The purpose of the study was to determine if online courses that were faculty peer reviewed based on five factors of quality instruction resulted in increased levels of student satisfaction and higher rates of student retention when compared with non-reviewed courses in a post-secondary context. The five factors of quality online instruction used in the study were: outcomes, assessment, resource materials, student interaction, and technology. The study utilized a quasi-experimental method with an online questionnaire administered to 455 student participants from nine community colleges in Maryland and Oregon. Students were enrolled in 41 online courses that were either formally faculty peer reviewed or not. The study posed four research questions. The first two study questions compared peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed courses in terms of student satisfaction and student retention. The second two questions used a regression analysis to order the contribution of the factors of quality online instruction related to student satisfaction and retention in peer reviewed courses.