Community-college students who take courses designed solely to improve their academic and planning skills are not only more likely to stay in college than other students, but, five years later, are more likely to have earned a degree or transferred to a four-year institution, according to a new report.

"One course having that big of an effect over five years is pretty noteworthy," said Davis Jenkins, who worked on the report as a senior research associate at the Community College Research Center, at Columbia University's Teachers College.

Mr. Jenkins said the center's researchers were initially skeptical about how significant an impact the courses would have. They expected to find that many of the students who took the courses were already more likely to succeed academically because of their motivation, academic preparation, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

This article appeared in the June 18, 2007 edition of the Higher Education.

http://chronicle.com/daily/2007/06/2007061803n.htm

Published Friday, Jun. 22, 2007