Background
Broward College (BC) is the principal provider of undergraduate higher education for the residents of Broward County, Fla., north of Miami. More than 60,000 students attend this three-campus institution. Through a wide variety of degree and certificate programs and continuing education courses, the college attracts a great diversity of students with different academic goals.
While college leaders have attempted to address the complex needs of their many under-prepared students, BC’s three-year graduation rate is among the lowest in Florida's community college system, according to state accountability reports. Data gathered during the Achieving the Dream planning year provided new insights into the magnitude of the challenge. Researchers found that academicallydeficient students are disproportionately students of color; nearly one-third of the entering class needs remediation in all three of the basic skill areas of reading, English and math; and students who need multiple levels of remediation are at the greatest risk of academic failure.
Achieving the Dream Interventions
BC aims to increase the success rate of the “3/2 prep group” — students who need remediation in all three areas of developmental education, at least two of which involve multiple levels of remediation.
Learning Communities (LC)
Students who are part of the “3/2 prep group” are required to take a prescribed curriculum taught in a learning community. Profiles of each LC are developed by LC instructors and submitted to a tracking specialist.
Holistic Advising
Students who placed into two or more areas of preparatory courses were holistically advised by a team of Student Success Specialists. Using a student-centered case management approach, the specialists place students into learning communities. Students who place into three or more college preparatory courses also must take the Student Life Skills course.
Results
Learning Community students had better outcomes than non-LC students as demonstrated by their reading pass rates, average GPAs, and average credit completion rates. Learning Community students were retained to the next semester at a rate of 88%, as compared to 63% of non-LC students.
Full-time, first time in college, students
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Learning Community Students
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Non-Learning Community Students
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GPA *
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2.53
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2.20
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Credit Completion Rate*
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.91
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.79
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Retention to next semester
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88%
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63%
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*mean
In Fall 2008, retention increased for two- and three-prep students who were holistically advised but were not LC participants. While the retention increase was more significant for three-prep students in the short term, the long-term retention of two-prep students continued to increase in comparison with non-holistically advised students.
 *Data excludes Learning Community students (analyzes the effects of HA alone)
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