The Impact of Policy Changes Restricting Late Registration in a Large Midwestern Community College

Abstract

The focus of this study was to investigate the differences in the enrollment behaviors and academic outcomes of late-enrolling students before and after the implementation of a more restrictive late registration policy. The study was conducted at a large Midwestern community college and included 5,650 enrollments from Fall 2008 and 2,833 enrollments from Fall 2009. When the more restrictive late registration policy was implemented in Fall 2009, enrollments during the first week of class decreased by 50% and enrollments were effectively shifted to late start course options (64% in Fall 2009).Regarding academic outcomes, there was no statistically significant difference in course means, drops without a W, or withdrawals with a W for students who enrolled during the first week of Fall 2008 vs Fall 2009. In addition, no statistically significant differences in mean course grades of specific student types (first-time-in-college (FTIC), continuing students, transfer students, students enrolling for the first time for the semester, and students who were only making a schedule change) were detected between Fall 2008 and Fall 2009. There were no statistically significant differences in academic outcomes within any group between Fall 2008 and Fall 2009.There were statistically significant differences in academic outcomes among student types as a whole without regard to which semester they enrolled. FTIC students had a statistically lower course mean than continuing or transfer students. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the course means of continuing vs transfer students. Students who were only making a schedule change had a statistically higher course mean than students who were enrolling for the first time for the semester during the first week of class. The lack of statistically significant differences in the course means of students who enrolled during the first week of Fall 2008 vs Fall 2009 provided evidence that requiring students to enroll before a class began did not have a significant impact on the academic outcomes of students who enrolled in the first week of the semester.