- Students beginning at community colleges were less likely to achieve STEM baccalaureate success. However, this negative effect was reduced to some extent by the positive influence of community colleges on a key STEM momentum indicator, quality points students achieved in STEM courses during the first term, which in turn positively impacted STEM baccalaureate success.
- Beginning at a community college significantly boosts first-term STEM quality points (QP), which is one of this study’s most intriguing findings. The stronger the STEM momentum accumulated by students at community colleges in the form of completing a sufficient number of STEM courses with quality, the more likely the potentially negative effect of beginning at a community college can be reduced.
- This finding highlights the importance of achieving early momentum in STEM, by both completing a substantial number of STEM courses and performing well in them, to chart a promising baccalaureate trajectory in STEM.
- The highly positive impact of STEM QP, along with the positive indirect impact of attempted STEM credits, shows that, analogous to how momentum in classical mechanics results from both mass and velocity, real STEM momentum does not come from merely attempting STEM courses; what results from the intended effort is critical.
- Contrary to what one might have expected, when self-selection is accounted for, beginning at a community college does not negatively influence STEM momentum.
- This study suggests that community colleges have not yet evolved into a pathway to a baccalaureate in STEM that is comparable with public 4-year institutions.
- Community colleges have great potential for helping disadvantaged STEM-aspiring students catch up on their early STEM momentum, thus providing quality academic preparation for students to ensure their STEM success at 4-year institutions.