Influences on the Academic, Career, and Personal Gains and Satisfaction of Community College Students. AIR 1994 Annual Forum Paper.

This study surveyed community college students to determine the dynamic relationships among: their background variables; college experiences; academic, career, and personal gains; and satisfaction. The Community College Student Experience Questionnaire was administered to 1,062 students, and A. Astin's (1991) input-environment-output assessment model was used in the analysis. Primary background variables were age, credit hours completed, gender, family and job effects on school work, and race. Secondary background variables included principle educational goal, hours per week spent studying, and hours per week spent on campus outside of class. College experience variables included quality of effort scales for class, library, faculty, student acquaintances, art/music/theater, science, writing, vocational skills, and counseling experiences. Outcome variables included student self-reported gains and a satisfaction scale. The study concluded that substantial proportions of the variance in academic, career, and personal gains and in satisfaction were accounted for by the direct effects of college experiences/quality of effort, which were, in turn, influenced by student background variables. The faculty quality of effort scale had no direct effects upon any of the gains factors or upon the satisfaction scale. (Contains 24 references.) (JDD)