This practice brief addresses the financial insecurity faced by many community college students and provides recommendations for community college practitioners on how to use incentivized savings accounts to teach financial literacy and prepare students for financial challenges that may impact their educational future. Despite reactive attempts at…

While community colleges excel at expanding postsecondary enrollments, these institutions often struggle to help students succeed. A chorus of school leaders and policymakers increasingly agree that broad-based, comprehensive organizational change is needed to drastically improve community college student success and equity. The Guided Pathways…

For 8 years Washington State has operated a performance funding policy, the Student Achievement Initiative (SAI). The policy allocates appropriations to the state's 34 community and technical colleges based on points earned through student achievement of college-readiness, retention, and completion milestones. Grounded in a conceptual framework of…

Tarrant County College's Achieving the Dream transformation has not only changed the college but all who engaged in the initiative. In four years, through ATD TCC became a college with one purpose, one goal, and one focus--student success through data informed decision making. From TCC Chancellor Dr. Erma Johnson Hadley to campus administrators,…

This case study tracks the application of project-based learning (PBL) during four separate college terms at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. Each term follows a different learning community of first-term college students enrolled in a program of developmental education (DE), reading, writing, math, and college survival and success…

Presents findings from a national study of 220 community colleges investigating the incorporation of multicultural curricula and staff development activities, perceived barriers to diversification, and future plans for multicultural programs. Indicates that although colleges are active in addressing multicultural issues, large numbers of students…

Discusses a study that began the process of developing a curriculum for a two-year degree in safety. Reports that two groups of safety professionals ranked the importance of content areas that might be included in the degree program--communication skills, safety management skills, and regulatory compliance were found to have the highest mean…

Examines the extent to which urban community colleges are able to develop new programs for welfare recipients under welfare reform. Reports that, according to a survey of New York City's community colleges, although the policy environment has dampened new programming for welfare recipients among these institutions, some exemplary programs have…

Reports on the Community College of Baltimore County's (CCBC) (Maryland) implementation of LearningFIRST, a plan intended to promote the evolution of CCBC into a learning institution. Six specific directions of the framework are mentioned, including: (1) learning is the core value and direction of CCBC; and (2) the student is central to the…

Describes Iowa Valley Community College District's Contribution Margin Budgeting (CMB) program, successfully implemented to stave off bankruptcy. In this program, each responsibility center receives credit for all income generated and is charged for all expenditures, and each must build its own reserve against revenue shortfalls and unanticipated…

Describes a study conducted to review the status of educational guarantees in two-year colleges and identify restrictions and processes associated with their implementation. Indicates that 87% of the colleges had adopted occupational guarantees and 68% adopted transfer guarantees and that colleges are using guarantees to improve institutional…

Using examples from Cuyahoga Community College, this article examines the nature of teams, how they are suited to community college management, and how they can increase the effectiveness of community colleges. Presents tangible implementation strategies and unique applications for community colleges, including the use of faculty as team…

Describes Western Iowa Tech Community College's (WITCC) strategies to weave technology into its instruction and student-support functions. Describes a five-year initiative, launched to strengthen instructional and student-service programs through technological means. Through collaboration with PLATO Learning and Datatel, WITCC has demonstrated…

States that Central Community College (Nebraska) has taken the lead in many business, industry, and educational collaborations. Two models are described: (1) the development and implementation of a collaborative team; and (2) team approaches that allow for substantial increases in funding and full-time equivalents while serving business and…

Provides brief overview of the history and development of community colleges in Indiana and describes their present organization. Presents issues and challenges that publicly controlled two-year colleges in Indiana face in the coming decade. Examines the influence of Indiana University, Purdue University, and the Indiana Farm Bureau on the present…