We utilize a difference-in-difference design to examine the effect of adopting a statewide promise program on the enrollment of community college students across socio-economic status. Limited by a small sample size for treated units, we find inferential evidence that the adoption of a state-wide, last-dollar promise program for community colleges…

With the recent approval of the Second Chance Pell Program and a proposal to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, a shift is occurring in favor of expanding educational opportunities to incarcerated adults. As reform to the criminal justice system becomes a focus, there is an immediate need to study the dynamic relationship between community…

Promise programs are an increasing popular solution to improving college affordability, reducing educational inequities, and promoting economic development. Promise programs are distinct from other forms of financial aid because they emphasize residency in their eligibility criteria, where students must live and/or attend school in specific…

Through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program, the federal government charged community colleges across the country with two things: training adults who had lost their jobs so they could regain employment and providing the education needed for those still working to be able to move up career…

Since the 1970s, higher education has become increasingly reliant upon adjunct faculty to fill gaps in class instruction, but institutions tend to offer adjuncts subpar professional support as compared to their full-time counterparts. To ensure students' academic success, it is vital that adjuncts are provided resources, points of engagement that…

In the United States, approximately 33 percent of all community colleges offer at least one type of international education program; of those, about 13 percent offer designated education abroad programs (Malveaux and Raby 2019). Advocacy for community college international education is also not new and is evident in publications, reports, and…

The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant represented an unprecedented investment by the federal government in integrated postsecondary education and workforce training offered primarily by community and technical colleges. Between 2011 and 2018, 256 grants totaling nearly $2 billion were awarded through…

This paper reviews the literature on best practices to engage parents in order to equip them to support their children's higher education aspirations. Parents from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, in common with other parents, report that they want "the best" for their children's future. Getting a good education is a part of…

Much of recent research in postsecondary developmental education leaves the distinct impression that most remedial courses in community colleges are unsuccessful in helping students and that they should be entirely overhauled. Legislators and administrators are now taking these recommendations very seriously and are ready to cut programs that are…

A narrative review was developed to add to the discussion and dissemination of research on community colleges. The review adds to existing work by synthesizing and critiquing the empirical research to date specific to three of the most prevalent programmatic efforts presently seen on community college campuses: (a) learning communities, (b)…

For developmental education students, rates of developmental math course completion and persistence into required college-level math courses are particularly low. This literature review examines the evidence base on one potential means for improving the course completion and learning outcomes of developmental mathematics students: reforming…

In this study, the different types of research designs used to assess the impact of prerequisite courses are presented. Supported by an in-depth literature review, the challenges that are faced in the assessment of the impact of prerequisites, from statistical to political, are identified and their pitfalls are pointed out. In particular, the…

In 2007, the Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) was launched in California's 109 (now 110) community colleges. This initiative responds to an increasing awareness that state policies favoring "open access" also result in the enrollment of large numbers of students who are underprepared to succeed in college-level work. Identified as a key…

The Early Childhood Technology Integrated Instructional System 3 (EC-TIIS 3), housed in the Center for Best Practices in Early Childhood (the Center) within the College of Education and Human Services at Western Illinois University (WIU), was funded in 2004 by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) as a…

One of the greatest challenges that community colleges face in their efforts to increase graduation rates is improving the success of students in their developmental, or remedial, education programs--the courses that students without adequate academic preparation must take before they can enroll in courses for college credit. Emphasizing results…