As a result of their mission to provide services to diverse groups, community colleges generally have lower retention rates. The present research reviews the theoretical basis of retention, with a focus on summarizing how the theory pertains to two-year schools. While numerous variables influence persistence, a student's educational objectives appear to be an especially important determinant of persistence at community colleges. Using regression techniques, this study examined which student characteristics best predict retention and other student outcomes at two community colleges. Fall 1997 cohorts were tracked until spring 2001, and analyses involved testing the hypothesis that educational objectives are critical in predicting community college retention. The findings indicated a need for improvements in the quality of educational goals data collection, as well as the need to refocus college resources to support retention analyses. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.)