The purpose of this study is to examine community college student persistence as it relates to the receipt of financial aid and institutional scholarships. The study examines student demographics, financial aid, institutional scholarship aid receipt characteristics, and attendance patterns of 1,758 students who began college in Fall 2001 and continued over a three-year period at one institution. All students who were enrolled in six or more credit hours and were legal U.S. citizens or residents and thus eligible to receive financial aid or scholarships were included in the study. Of the students who received aid during the course of the study, the majority received financial support in the form of federal or state aid. A lesser number received institutional scholarships, and a very small number received both financial aid and institutional scholarships.

Within-year (fall to spring or spring to fall) and year-to-year (fall to fall or spring to spring) persistence was examined using chi-square analysis. Students who persisted within-year or year-to-year tended to be enrolled for four consecutive semesters, and students who did not persist tended to be enrolled for one semester only. An implication of this finding for community college administrators is that student support programs designed to move students from semester one to semester two may positively affect student persistence.

Students who received either financial aid or institutional scholarships were more likely to persist, and those who did not receive aid or scholarships were more likely to not persist. Scholarships receipt for fall semester positively affected persistence to spring semester. This relationship was not observed for students who entered the spring semester. If a significant percentage of students begin the spring semester as first-time freshman, as is common at community colleges, the awarding of spring scholarships to this cohort has the possibility of positively affecting persistence.