In 2019, MDRC launched the Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS) project to improve college completion rates for traditionally underserved students, such as students from low-income backgrounds and students of color, at community and broad-access colleges (those that have open or minimally selective admissions…

In response to rising college tuition and student debt over the past three decades, some institutions, localities, and states have implemented a range of tuition-free promise programs to promote college access and success. Programs vary widely in their design features, including eligibility stipulations and award structure. I explore the growing…

The prevalence and emergence of college promise programs presents interesting and important methodological challenges. Based on their immediate access to de-identified data of applicants and enrollees, institutional researchers are in a privileged position to rigorously assess the effect of these programs in a myriad of outcomes. This study is a…

Workforce projections indicate that a majority of jobs to be created in the U.S. economy will require some form of postsecondary education (Cappelli, 2015; Carnevale, Smith, & Strohl, 2010). At the same time, colleges and universities are being held accountable for completion and graduation of their students (The Commission, 2014) and…

The annual number of certificates awarded by community colleges has increased dramatically, but relatively little research has been conducted on the economic benefits of certificates in the labor market. Based on detailed student-level information from matched college transcript and employment data in two states, this article estimates the…

As participation in online learning continues to expand, higher education institutions must implement policies and procedures to ensure quality at the course, program, and institution levels. In this paper, the authors describe a process that the State University of New York (SUNY) System implemented, utilizing the OLC Quality Scorecard, to help…

College Promise programs are thriving in California, and with the continued growth comes a need to understand the features of these diverse efforts and the perspectives of the communities in which they exist. In 2018, the James Irvine Foundation supported California College Promise Project (CCPP) at WestEd to study the College Promise landscape in…

This study discusses the implementation of a service learning component in community college communication 101 level courses. Through the execution of a service learning component in communication classes at a community college, students' communicative competency and attitude toward community service is assessed. Using two different delivery…

Community colleges play a vital role in postsecondary education, enrolling more than one in every three postsecondary students. While their importance has grown over the past 50 years, their students' success rates remain low. Consequently, community college stakeholders are searching with mounting urgency for approaches that increase students'…

Many learning center administrators understand the need to evaluate the effectiveness of their tutoring programs, but they do not have much free time to design and conduct meaningful research. This article presents a method of evaluation that can be used to determine whether students were able to demonstrate understanding after a tutoring…

A comprehensive, four-phase approach was used to test the feasibility of an online, tailored health program for community college students. The prototype was perceived by students as relevant and useful; practitioners were favorable toward offering the program as part of orientation and in a credit-course format. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

The STRONG-CT alliance between four U.S. institutions, the University of Connecticut, Manchester Community College, Quinebaug Valley Community College, and Three Rivers Community College, seeks to help diversify and enlarge the STEM communities in Connecticut by increasing enrollment, retention, and graduation of racial/ethnic minority and first…

The Office of Shared Accountability in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) is conducting a multiyear evaluation of the "Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success" (ACES) program. ACES is a collaboration between MCPS, Montgomery College (MC), and the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) to create a seamless pathway from high…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of remedial math courses at the community college level through an examination of short-term academic success variables. For the purposes of this study, short-term academic success was defined as passing required remedial math course(s) and the first college-level math course with a C or…

The Concurrent Courses Initiative (CCI), supported by The James Irvine Foundation from 2008 to 2011, funded a selection of secondary-postsecondary partnerships in California to implement or enhance career-focused dual enrollment programs. These programs specifically targeted youth who were low-income, struggling academically, or within populations…