Community colleges are trending toward a decrease in full-time faculty and an increase in adjunct faculty. Using 2019-2020 IPEDS data from 853 community colleges, researchers explored the relationship between full-time faculty and community college student retention, and combined graduation and transfer rate. Results demonstrated that proportion…

Strategic plans are valuable tools for colleges seeking to cast vision and provide focused guidance for leadership and faculty, but it is not clear how these plans address student success. This study analyzed plans from 55 of the 58 community colleges in North Carolina. First, we analyzed the plans using a 10-step strategic planning framework to…

The intent of this study is to explore the actions and strategies used by the administration at Bergen Community College to serve its institutional mission in increasing student completion. Facing challenges in low completion rate, Bergen Community College began the student completion initiative to develop a strategy that would best serve the…

This article highlights the College Level Examination Program -- or CLEP -- from the College Board, as another pathway for students to earn college credits toward degree completion. The renewal of interest in alternative pathways to degree attainment has come about in response to yet another round of national studies reporting declining rates of…

Two-year public colleges serve roughly one-third of undergraduate students in the United States, and, like other types of colleges across the country, they face shifting population demographics. Additionally, completion rates at two-year institutions have received political and scholarly attention within states and across the nation in recent…

Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degrees are designed to prepare individuals for career opportunities, but they are increasingly prevalent among students transferring to universities. Still, transfer experiences for AAS holders are fraught with barriers such as credit loss and credit applicability toward baccalaureate degrees. Using statewide…

Community college leaders seeking best practices to improve completion rates and student success have a strategy to consider -- experiential learning as part of a course. An accounting business course, at a mid-sized community college in the southeast, recently implemented an experiential learning activity to determine the association with…

States and institutions employ articulation agreements to streamline curricular pathways. We investigate the efficacy of that streamlining by considering how course sequences, enacted through pre- and co-requisites, relate to graduation rates for transfer students at different time intervals. Applying a curricular complexity framework that…

Apart from awarding associate degrees, two-year colleges (also referred to as associate colleges and community colleges) may vary distinctly in their disciplinary focus. Certain institutions offer more courses geared toward specific career fields, while other two-year institutions offer courses to prepare students to transfer to four-year…

There are national, state, and institutional efforts to increase the completion rates of students enrolled in higher education institutions across the United States. This manuscript describes how one community college developed a total institutional commitment approach that became very successful in terms of significant Associate Degree and…

Community colleges serve the most diverse student populations in higher education yet have some of the lowest levels of faculty diversity in higher education. Retaining community college student cohorts through transfer/graduation is a goal, yet attaining this goal has been elusive, particularly for underrepresented minority (URM) community…

The Post-9/11 GI Bill provides unprecedented federal funding for veterans to attend post-secondary education and make the transition to the civilian workforce. However, there is little empirical research on recipients' educational outcomes, especially in community colleges. This study investigated the variables that influence completion and…

States have introduced a range of policies and strategies aimed at boosting college readiness by strengthening collaborations between secondary and postsecondary education sectors. One popular strategy is Early College High Schools, which allows historically underserved student groups to complete college-level coursework and improve their college…

The gaps in graduation and retention rates between ethnic and gender groups continue to be a foremost area of focus at Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), The City University of New York (CUNY). Equity and inclusion is also a critical concern as it relates to faculty and staff. At BMCC, a college-wide initiative, Designing for Success,…

This article considers student affairs practice within the Completion Agenda by studying community college student affairs educators' beliefs about their work related to the value others attribute to it. The Completion Agenda's goals are largely economic, and community colleges have been asked to focus on speed rather than the quality of the…