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Enrollment patterns of community college students.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The Los Angeles Community College District's population is highly saturated with Latino/Latina students. Despite high enrollment and aspirations to transfer, Latinos/Latinas transfer at rates well below national averages. Using course transcripts from the entire history of a student's enrollment, 1122 Latina students' course enrollment patterns were categorized into three separate enrollment patterns: transfer path, remedial, or occupational. Results indicate that Latinas are not enrolling in transfer-level courses at the same rate as their Caucasian peers. In addition, Latinas have lower course completion rates than Caucasians. A subsample of Latinas who are on the transfer path, however, are enrolling and completing transfer-level courses at the same rates as Caucasians.

Introduction

Community colleges across the nation are reporting high enrollment rates of underrepresented minorities, specifically Latino/Latina students. National figures indicate a disproportionate number of Latinos/Latinas concentrated in community colleges. The Latino/Latina enrollment population of 2-year colleges in the United States is 11.1% and is 6.3% at the 4-year universities (California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2000; Los Angeles Community College District, 2001). In the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), with a high population of Latino/Latinas in the surrounding population, 45.9% of the community population is Latino/Latina's compared to 24.5% in the California State System. Los Angeles County has a little over 9.5 million residents with 44.6% of the population reporting a Hispanic or Latino origin (Census, 2000). The LACCD resides in Los Angeles County and serves the surrounding population, which has increasing numbers of people of Hispanic or Latino heritage. It is no surprise that the LACCD has high rates of Latino/Latina enrollment. However, Latinos/Latinas are primarily entering the higher education system at community college's rather than at four-year institutions.

Women and Latinas are also disproportionately represented in community colleges. Female enrollment in the LACCD is reported at 58%, compared to 55.4% in national 4-year colleges, including state colleges and research universities (California Postsecondary Education Commission, 2000; Los Angeles Community College District, 2001). Latinas make-up approximately half of the female enrollment in the LACCD but only 32.4% of the total Los Angeles population (Census, 2002). The disproportionate representation of Latinos/Latinas in community colleges is a concern when considering the outcomes of educational attainment between ethnic groups. Latino/Latinas, despite their high enrollment rates, do not transfer to four-year institutions at the same rate as their peers. Even more perplexing is the low transfer rates despite the high aspirations of the Latino/Latina population. It is estimated that between 70-75% of Latino/Latina students aspire to a four-year degree (Nora & Rendon, 1990). Currently, estimates indicate that only 2-5% of all Latino/Latina students in the LACCD transfer to four-year institutions each year (LACCD, 2000). National figures, although difficult to estimate due to a lack of longitudinal data and a consistent definition of transfer, estimate that 19% of all students and 18.1% who enter community colleges transfer within a six-year period (Bradburn & Hurst, 2001). Community colleges are the gateway institutions for many Latino/Latina students as illustrated in the population demographics. Latinos/Latinas, however, are not transferring at a significant rate. There is little research on females and underrepresented minority transfer rates and current research focuses on transfer-as-an-outcome, ignoring the semester-by-semester course-taking process. This study takes a different view by identifying the courses in which students enroll and successfully complete on a semester-by-semester basis. Student enrollment patterns allow for an identification of student behaviors linking student aspirations to course-taking behaviors. This paper examines the course taking patterns of a group of Latino/Latina students in the LACCD by identifying the patterns of transferable level, remedial, and occupational courses and providing a complete description of how many students are on the path to transfer.

Latino/Latina Transfer Patterns in Community Colleges

Research targeting Latino/Latina community college students and their transfer rates is sparse. Only a few studies that identify factors and recommend solutions to increasing the numbers if Latinos/Latinas who...

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