The low degree completion rate for college students is problematic in the U.S. Many scholars and practitioners focus on the effects of developmental education due to its cost and effort incurred by students and institutions. However, research has not decisively concluded that developmental education is either bad or good. This study extended this important stream of research by examining the factors that contribute to emerging adults’ degree completion over time. Event History Analysis (EHAs) was applied to treat participation in developmental education as a time-varying indicator of degree completion. Other primary time-varying indicators include enrollment status and GPA.
The results are as follows. After the third year of enrollment, students have a greater likelihood of degree completion. Behaviors such as enrolling as a full-time student and the attainment of a higher GPA outweigh the disadvantage of taking developmental education. Findings show that students’ declaration of major is driven by financial aid, rather than the motivation of career choices. Given that empirical studies fail to examine the relationship between developmental education and students’ declaration of major, a further investigation from a sociological approach was conducted. Based on this study, solutions to deal with bureaucratic dysfunctions include: Workshops as a means to reach consensus and to strengthen sentiments in bureaucracy, and reforms of implementing a proper ratio of counselors to students. Moreover, surveys are suggested for future research to clarify the relationship between participation in developmental education and students’ declaration of major.