Degree Name
EdD (Doctor of Education)
Program
Educational Leadership
Date of Award
8-2026
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Dr. Paul Garton
Committee Members
Dr. Susan Epps, Dr. Amy Moreland, Dr. Richard Rhoda
Abstract
Reapplication and Credential Completion Among Non-Selected Community College Health Science Applicants: A Social Stratification Perspective by Donna Whitehouse Community colleges serve as primary access points for healthcare workforce preparation, yet thousands of qualified applicants are not selected for competitive admission health science programs each year. Research on what happens to these students following non-selection is limited, and existing studies focus almost exclusively on nursing, leaving allied health programs largely absent from the literature. This study addressed that gap by examining the reapplication behavior and credential completion outcomes among 2,604 applicants to three competitive admission health science programs, Nursing, Occupational Therapy Assistant, and Surgical Technology, at a single public, urban, community college in the southeastern United States. Social stratification theory, rooted in the frameworks of Weber (1946) and Bourdieu (1986), provided the theoretical foundation for this study. This perspective holds that educational institutions, such as community colleges with open access missions, can still function as sites where existing social hierarchies are reproduced through seemingly neutral selection processes. Social stratification theory suggests that competitive admission processes, while operationally necessary given program capacity constraints, may function as filters whose consequences fall unevenly across demographic groups, reflecting pre-existing structural inequalities rather than 6 academic potential alone. This study examined whether that pattern was observable in the reapplication and credential completion outcomes of non-selected applicants. Using a descriptive longitudinal design and binary logistic regression, the study tracked student outcomes over a three-year window following initial application. Pell grant eligibility emerged as the most consistent predictor across every research question, with Pell-eligible applicants reapplying and completing credentials at higher rates than their non-Pell-eligible peers, a counterintuitive finding that resists straightforward theoretical explanation. Race and ethnicity were associated with lower odds of credential completion among Black and Other/Unknown applicants relative to White applicants, particularly in models with sufficient statistical power to detect the effect. Selection status was the strongest predictor of credential completion, with selected applicants more than five times more likely to complete a credential within three years than non-selected peers. Findings suggest that competitive admission processes at community colleges may unintentionally replicate broader societal stratification patterns. Implications for enrollment management practice, institutional data tracking, and equitable access to health science education are discussed.
Document Type
Dissertation - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Whitehouse, Donna G., "Reapplication and Credential Completion Among Non-Selected Community College Health Science Applicants: A Social Stratification Perspective" (2026). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 4736. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/4736
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.
