In response to concerns about the additional costs and time-to-degree associated with traditional developmental education programs, several states and postsecondary systems have implemented corequisite reform where academically underprepared students take both a developmental education course and college-level course in the same subject area…

Today's post-secondary institutions in the United States are seeing the continuous decline of enrollment. In Fall, 2020, there were 19 million students enrolled in college according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center in 2020, which is a decline of 4.4% from the prior year. While the decline can partially be attributed to the…

Many community college students do not finish their 2-year degree on time, and there are several institutional barriers that prevent students from taking 15 college credits per semester. Students are not aware of the academic and economic benefits of taking 15 college credits per semester. A 15 to Finish communication campaign, which has been…

Research for Action (RFA) in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin is engaged in a five-year mixed-methods study of the reforms associated with California AB 705. Over the course of the study, our team will assess the implementation, impact, and cost effectiveness of reforms associated with the law. This second interim report,…

Research for Action (RFA) in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin is engaged in a five-year mixed-methods study of the reforms associated with California AB 705. Over the course of the study, our team will assess the implementation, impact, and cost effectiveness of reforms associated with the law. This report first offers a…

North Carolina has become the first state to require all students to prove their residency status through a thirdparty process when applying for college and financial assistance. NC Residency Determination Service (RDS) has taken the responsibilities from individual institutions to determine whether a student's residency status is in state or out…

This article reports on a statewide implementation of a corequisite model of instruction for first year writing at two- and four-year public, postsecondary institutions in Idaho. This project explores how these institutions manage political and economic mandates for educational reform while preserving educational quality for students and teaching…

The book analyses and evaluates several key community college reform programs that emerged after the Recession of 2008 and as a result of major initiatives in California, New York, Tennessee, Florida, Connecticut and Wisconsin. Because of the economic downturn in the early 21st Century, an already eroding financial base for public higher education…

This report presents findings from Encouraging Additional Summer Enrollment [EASE], which used behavioral insights in two informational campaigns, with and without tuition assistance, to encourage community college students to take summer classes. Both interventions increased enrollment and had a modest impact on credits earned and positive return…

Although there is no federal mandate that prohibits unauthorized students from enrolling in postsecondary institutions in the United States, the rising cost of attendance and inconsistent admissions policies have served as barriers for unauthorized students (Gonzalez, 2007, 2009; Perez, 2010). For this reason, states with large concentrations of…

These are the appendices for the report "The Effects of Expanding Pell Grant Eligibility for Short Occupational Training Programs: Results from the Experimental Sites Initiative." Four appendices are included in the document: (1) Implementation of the 2011 Pell Experiments; (2) Study Design and Analytic Approach; (3) Supporting Details…

Purpose: Most community college students do not graduate let alone transfer to university. Hence, the purpose of this qualitative study was to (a) examine the learned experiences of California community colleges and California State University (CSU) administrators and staff in implementing the California Student Transfer Achievement Reform (STAR)…

Many youth in America are not on track for labor market success. One factor that increases the risk of poor labor market outcomes among these youth is dropping out of school (Rumberger 2020). Youth who drop out of school are at greater risk for job instability and for lower longterm earnings (Hair et al. 2009). They are also more likely to…

This brief summarizes findings from implementation, impact, and cost-benefit evaluations of Accelerating Opportunity (AO). AO is a career pathways initiative launched in 2011 that aims to help adults with low basic skills earn valued occupational credentials, obtain well-paying jobs, and sustain rewarding careers. AO was one of the first efforts…

Community colleges nationwide are looking for solutions to help students complete developmental (remedial) math--a known barrier to graduation. Some are offering computer-assisted, modular developmental math courses that allow students to earn credits incrementally and move through the curriculum at their own pace. One of these modularized…