Is the Second Time the Charm? Investigating Trends in Online Re- enrollment, Retention and Success

This paper examines the relationship between previous online education experiences and future success in online educational opportunities among students enrolled in a community college. Through the use of an ANOVA analysis of student-level data, the authors determine students who engage in online learning with no previous experience have a greater dropout rate than their peers in a traditional "face-to-face" setting; students who have low success rates in previous online courses have low retention rates; and students who have had previous successes in online courses have higher retention rates.