In this study, we examine the impact of a large-scale effort in California aimed at establishing career pathways and estimate its causal effects on community college enrollment. By leveraging a discontinuous assignment rule for awarding grant funds, we obtain credibly causal estimates of a $500 million initiative to expand career and technical…

In this study, we examine an at-scale effort to encourage the formation of career pathways in California, with the goal of estimating the initiative's causal effects on community college enrollment. We leverage a discontinuous assignment rule used to award grant funds to obtain credibly causal estimates of an ambitious $500 million effort to…

With the implementation of AB 705 in fall 2019, California Community Colleges began to transition to a majority of students' first English and math enrollment starting at transfer level. Research has shown that with the vast increase in access to transfer-level courses, the one-year completion rate of a transfer-level course (i.e., throughput)…

California Community College campuses are struggling to enroll Latinx students. As identified through the literature, most Latinx students navigate the college enrollment process with little to no guidance and seek support in navigating it. Using Yosso's (2005) community cultural wealth framework, I investigate how Rose Grace College's Familias…

This study explored the journeys of Formerly Incarcerated Latino Men (FILM) who are turning to higher education as a reentry support for their lives after being released from prison. Offering programs like higher education during reentry is not just about creating new paths and opportunities, something higher education already does for many. The…

Assembly Bill (AB) 705 transformed California community colleges by placing all students into transfer-level mathematics, including students with learning disabilities (SWLD). This multimethod study of one community college district explores the impact of AB 705 on SWLD. The sequential multimethod design includes three phases: 1) document…

The California Community Colleges (CCC) launched Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) after the passage of SB164 (1969). Colleges leverage their EOPS funding to offer academic, career, and personal counseling; financial resources; and services "over and above" traditional campus supports. This latest research builds on the…

Reentry programs are designed to help returning citizens successfully reenter society following their incarceration. Recidivism is a complex phenomenon, but research has shown certain practices and policies can reduce the tendency to reoffend. There is a need for continued development of evidence-based programs to reduce recidivism and social…

Differences in contextual norms between the U.S. military and institutions of higher education mean that student veterans may experience difficulty integrating into the wider campus community, leading to educational inequity. However, this situation may be mitigated by the presence of a strong student veteran peer community. Previous studies of…

The purpose of this study was to explore reasons why adolescent youth from foster care and in special education, including those who are newly emancipated from the foster care system, have difficulty transitioning into independent living. The study was guided by one research question: What difficulties do students who receive special education…

Test-only placement systems are associated with inaccurate placement determinations that can perpetuate college achievement gaps by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES). In response to the pitfalls of traditional, test-only placement systems, colleges across the country are increasingly experimenting with and adopting alternative…

A dearth of literature exists on first-year transfer student interventions, which makes it difficult to determine whether there are transfer student subgroups that struggle more than others. This study used a latent class analysis to examine whether meaningful subgroups of transfer students emerged based on their response patterns to measures of…

Purpose: This research was intended to identify some of the factors that impact student veterans' well-being, based on their unmet needs. Research by the USC School of Social Work Center for innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families USC-CIR (2015) found that many service members separate from the military ill-equipped to begin…

For several decades, institutions of higher education (IHE) have been addressing the need for postsecondary education (PSE) for students with intellectual disabilities (ID). These efforts have increased significantly since 2008 with passage of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). The law includes a defined set of services and activities…

With the national spotlight on community colleges, the sector has a unique opportunity to seize the moment and collaborate with K-12 to increase student success. Efforts to increase community college access and open doors to more students must include a complementary focus on improving readiness. Otherwise, remediation rates will remain…