This dissertation examines the relationship between mode of instructional delivery and course completion for students attending two community colleges. Course completion is defined as finishing the course with a grade of C or better, thus getting college credit and remaining in good academic standing. The research hypothesis is that distance learning students persist at equal or greater rates than their traditional classroom counterparts.

Using data for students enrolled at two local community colleges from the spring 2001 through spring 2003 semesters, the study compares completion rates for students in courses taught by television, Internet, or traditional classroom methods. In order to control for faculty characteristics, only courses that are taught via multiple methods in the same subject by the same full-time faculty member are included. The analyses also control for several student background characteristics.

Descriptive and multivariate statistics are used to examine the research questions. The analyses show that, at both community colleges, students were less likely to complete television courses than traditional classroom courses. At Suburban Community College, students in Internet courses were also less likely to complete their courses than students in traditional courses. The logistic regression also shows that several other variables are positively related to course completion at both community colleges: being older, female, White, a math/science major and a continuing rather than new student.

The findings have implications for faculty, college administrators and researchers. If academic administrators are to meet demands for higher course and program completion, then they should consider ways to improve outcomes for students in distance learning courses.