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…

We investigate operating costs at 682 public community colleges in the United States over a 15-year period (2004-2018). The results reveal that costs are spatially correlated across neighboring institutions, indicating the need for a spatial analysis. An institution's actions are associated with changes in costs for that particular institution…

This work examines what appears to be the most effective comprehensive learning support program ever available for underprepared college students. The Accelerated Study in Associate Programs initiative was designed and implemented at the City University of New York Community Colleges. It offers a wide range of integrated college acclimation,…

Despite much effort by engineering education scholarships to make engineering more inclusive, women are still underrepresented in engineering. Women earn less than 30% of the bachelor's degrees in engineering. However, when we examine the intersectionality between gender and race/ethnicity, the lack of representation in certain groups of women…

The Undergraduate Degree Earners report series, published annually, provides demographic and educational profile data for all students graduating with an undergraduate credential each year. Undergraduate credentials may include associate and bachelor's degrees and certificates. In the current report, graduates in the 2021-22 academic year are…

Although community colleges contribute to STEM education and the workforce in a variety of ways, it is impossible to determine how much they contribute--or to assess the effectiveness of policies and programs designed to strengthen STEM education in community colleges--without agreement on what constitutes STEM. In this report, the authors review…

Too little attention has been given to how colleges, and in particular community colleges, may influence the number of students who enter the teaching profession. Using administrative data from the City University of New York (CUNY), this brief explores the role that the seven CUNY community colleges play in contributing to CUNY degrees awarded in…

The Undergraduate Degree Earners report series, published annually, provides demographic and educational profile data for all students graduating with an undergraduate credential each year. Undergraduate credentials may include associate and bachelor's degrees and certificates. In the current report, graduates in the 2020-21 academic year are…

While the direct impacts of minimum wage changes on employment have received considerable attention, these policy changes have the potential to impact skill attainment by changing the opportunity cost of college enrollment. Using institutional data on college enrollment and program completion, we find that enrollment falls markedly among students…

The "Undergraduate Degree Earners" report series, published annually, provides demographic and educational profile data for all students graduating with an undergraduate credential each year. Undergraduate credentials may include associate and bachelor's degrees and certificates. In the current report, the authors profile graduates in…

For the United States to regain the top ranking in the world for college degree attainment, Latinos will need to earn 6.2 million degrees by 2030. To reach the Latino degree attainment goal by 2030, the United States can close the degree completion gap by accelerating Latino completion while increasing for all students and scale up programs and…

Few student success programs nationally have been as effective as CUNY's Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) initiative, which has grown to serve 25,000 community college students. CUNY has a promising program modeled on ASAP that is helping students at senior colleges complete their bachelor's degrees on time: the Accelerate, Complete,…

This issue of "DataPoints" shows that the number of first-time associate and bachelor's degree earners has dropped in almost all age groups since 2012-13, except for the under 25 group, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The figures are consistent with trends when the economy is hot; that is, many older…

Providing opportunities for students to engage in undergraduate research is well supported as a high-impact educational practice. Shifting research experience earlier in the undergraduate career provides opportunities for more students to yield gains (both personal and professional) earlier in their career. At the Ocean Research College Academy…

College typically pays off for low-income students, but not as much as it does for their peers. Low-income students, whose families earn $30,000 or less per year, comprise more than one-third of college students. "The Colleges Where Low-Income Students Get the Highest ROI" finds that low-income students have a lower return on investment…