Date

2014

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Amy McLemore

Keywords

articulation agreements, bilateral agreements, community college, degree completion, online learning, transfer

Disciplines

Community College Leadership | Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Leadership | Higher Education | Higher Education Administration | Online and Distance Education

Abstract

The purpose of this causal-comparative study is to examine whether differences exist in the retention and persistence of articulation participants based on face-to-face or online degree completion. The study will determine the rate of completion of articulation participants who transfer from a North Carolina Community College to a state university in North Carolina and enroll in traditional face-to-face classes versus articulation participants who enroll in online degree completion. There is considerable literature on articulation from the perspective of student satisfaction and an administrator's perception. Substantial research on policies and procedures as well as comparison to native and transfer students. There is limited data on the persistence of articulation students based on the degree completion method. This study examines two homogenous groups, the independent variable (online and face to face degree completion program) to determine the significance of dependent variables: time to degree obtainment, grade point average and degree completion. The results of this study revealed that articulation students who enrolled in an articulation programs, online versus face-to-face degree completion, had a significant difference in time to degree obtainment in favor of online degree completion. Students in both online and face-to-face obtained similar grade point averages and graduation completion rates indicating no significant difference. One hypothesis tests rejected the null hypothesis of no difference between online and face-to-face degree completion participation groups. The study also provides descriptive statistics, data on stop outs with academic standing, withdrawals and total of institution attended.

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