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Abstract
This quantitative study identified factors that are related to the persistence of learning support students at a 2-year college. It was guided by Bean and Metzners Nontraditional Undergraduate Student Attrition Model (1985) as the broader model and incorporated elements of the Stahl and Pavel (1992) Community College Retention Model as the operational model. This study extended the applicability of the Bean and Metzners (1985) Conceptual Model of Nontraditional Student Attrition to learning support students attending a 2-year college which resulted in the creation of the Two-Year College Learning Support Persistence Model (TYCLSPM). The instrument for the study was the Two-Year College Learning Support Persistence Questionnaire (TYCLSPQ) which was adapted from the Community College Retention Model Questionnaire (CCRMQ) developed by Stahl and Pavel (1992). The study sample consisted of over 400 students enrolled in learning support, diploma and degree courses at a 2-year college located in a Southeastern state of the United States. Spearman rank order correlation coefficient, Pearson product-moment coefficient, and analyses of data derived from Pearson Partial Correlation were used to assess the students environmental, academics, and biographic and demographic constructs and their related variables. The findings of the study were utilized to determine if the Two-Year College Learning Support Persistence Model was applicable to a 2-year college learning support population and to determine if a threshold would be established in the understanding of some factors that contribute to student decisions to persist to the attainment of their degree or diploma.