UCLA Community College Review: Campus Environment: A Missing Link in Studies of Community College Attrition

This paper explores the overlooked influence of campus environment in community college attrition. It discusses the campus ecology perspective, which raises awareness that the myriad of mutually interdependent relationships among community college inhabitants, environments, and activities can support or hinder the traditional goals of student growth and development. After decades of focusing primarily on student-based & dquo; measures of attrition, the article proposes that the influence of the community college environment might be key to understanding student attrition. The remainder of the article, drawing on the author's experience as a nontraditional community college student, offers examples of possible environmental enhancements that can support retention and success for students.