The Colorado Re-Engaged (CORE) initiative, created under House Bill 21-1330, allows a four-year institution of higher education (IHE) to award an associate degree to former students who meet eligibility requirements -- including having already earned at least 70 credit hours before stopping-out of a bachelor's program. Under HB21-1330, each…

Approximately 450 community colleges nationally are part of formal statewide or national initiatives to implement guided pathways reforms to improve student success, and many other colleges are implementing guided pathways practices on their own. Because guided pathways is a whole-college reform--and because it takes several years to fully…

This chapter summarizes major findings from the national evaluation of TAACCCT pertaining to systems and organizational changes made by community colleges. These results are integrated with other findings presented in this volume to highlight lessons learned about the implementation of TAACCCT and its legacy for long-term changes in the community…

In 2015, Tennessee launched Tennessee Promise (TN Promise), one of the most comprehensive and well-funded statewide free-college scholarship programs in the country. To support TN Promise students, and especially those from the lowest-income households, tnAchieves, a key partner facilitating all non-financial components of TN Promise, implemented…

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…

Although "free tuition" programs are politically popular, some worry that these programs will exacerbate inequity. Scholars note that program outcomes depend on implementation, but few have probed the contextual conditions that contribute to differences in implementation or the consequences of implementation for equity. To address this…

The New York City P-TECH 9-14 schools are an educational model that ties together the secondary, higher education, and workforce systems to improve outcomes across domains. The distinguishing feature of the model is a partnership among a high school, a community college, and one or more employer partners that focuses on preparing students for both…

The New York City P-TECH 9-14 schools are an educational model that ties together the secondary, higher education, and workforce systems to improve outcomes across domains. The distinguishing feature of the model is a partnership among a high school, a community college, and one or more employer partners that focuses on preparing students for both…

Black male community college students are underperforming at all levels within higher education compared to their counterparts from all major racial groups in the nation. Reasons for the declining academic performance of Black male community college students include institutional racism, lack of role models, and student isolation. Black male…

In community colleges in the United States, graduation rates remain frustratingly low. Students face many challenges, including the financial costs of attending college; the demands of school, work, and family; complex institutional systems; underfunded student support services; and insufficient preparation for college-level work. To address these…

Opportunity youth (OY; i.e., youth ages 16--24 who are neither working nor in school) are a population who is difficult to engage and retain in educational programs, particularly in community college career and technical education (CTE) programs. OY are an important population to community colleges, as CTE programs culminating in…

Containing costs for students in higher education is a significant priority for the Colorado Department of Higher Education and the state of Colorado. Open educational resources (OER) are educational materials licensed to be freely shared and available at no cost to students. The Department champions OER as a strategic means of meeting the demand…

Bachelor's degree attainment for community college transfer students is one underutilized but essential pathway for reducing equity gaps in higher education. One way to achieve this at scale is through state-level initiatives dedicated to supporting transfer from community colleges to not-for-profit independent colleges. The Teagle Foundation and…

Purpose: The military medic/paramedic population has desired to seek further education in healthcare with a program that provides earned credit for their prior learning and experiences. The population specifically wants to become a registered nurse (RN). As the nursing shortage continues, these military medics and paramedics are an untapped…

11 community colleges in New Jersey and two Historically Black Community Colleges (one in Alabama and one in Mississippi) joined the OnPath project, which had the goal to help community college students stay enrolled during the pandemic. OnPath facilitated a powerful combination of people and knowledge by bringing together college staff members…