Student persistence and retention in community colleges concern scholars, policymakers, and academics in higher education at large. Previous literature suggests that a strong sense of belonging in higher education and at the institution the student is attending may be one significant factor that impacts persistence and retention. However,…

Objective: Among two-year college students, alcohol and marijuana use, related consequences, and risk factors for use are not well understood. We examined differences between two- and four-year students in alcohol and marijuana use, consequences, and perceived descriptive norms, and explored whether two-year status moderated associations between…

Research Questions: While community college transfer (i.e., upward transfer) represents an important mechanism for advancing equity across STEM fields, existing studies of gender and women's participation within computer science have largely excluded the perspectives of upward transfer students. We address this gap in the literature by exploring…

Prior to the Guided Pathways movement, a litany of research in community colleges showed that course placement was inaccurate and ineffective. This article argues that placement might be redesigned, addressing erroneous assumptions about student success in service of pathways. This new placement would integrate three main areas of student success…

College completion is an important focus for policy and practice and is impacted by student academic and non-academic factors. Participation in non-classroom activities is well documented to extend positive intellectual, social, and psychosocial outcomes associated with college completion, yet this association is understudied for community college…

Purpose: Data literacy empowers college students, equipping them with essential skills necessary for their personal lives and careers in today's data-driven world. This study aims to explore how community college students evaluate their data literacy and further examine demographic and educational/career advancement disparities in their…

Since 2011, the Ontario provincial government has made significant investments into improving the efficiency of vertical transfer--from community colleges to university--within its post-secondary education system. During this period, local policy analysts have repeatedly emphasized the need to account for geography when developing strategies to…

The study aimed to assess the effects of year in college on students' perceptions of the cooperative learning process. Ninety-six college students completed 5 open-ended questions that asked students about their preferences for cooperative learning activities. Forty-nine first-year students and 47 second-year students participated in the study. A…

Student Evaluations of Teaching are an essential component of educational assessment that provides valuable feedback to instructors and their institutions. Indeed, their effectiveness depends on students' active participation and engagement with the assessment process itself. Identifying the factors that influence students' adoption of teaching…

This quantitative comparative study was conducted to examine if, and to what extent, differences in health and functioning and quality of life exist for community college students who complete an academic mindfulness course. Surveyed student responses were captured by the Quality of Life Index (QLI) (Ferrans and Powers, 1985), dependent variables…

Previous studies identified student-specific and institutional factors that impact community college student retention. However, few studies have examined associations between commodity prices and community college student retention. Guided by rational choice theory, we examine the relationship between annual, state-level gasoline prices and…

For too many community college students, transferring to a four-year institution for a bachelor's degree (i.e., vertical transfer) remains an unrealized aspiration. Prior research suggests that forms of capital can assist students in realizing their goals. Therefore, we sought to explore how relationships both within and outside of their…

Numerous stereotypes of the veteran population miss the diverse backgrounds of veterans as a group, particularly that one quarter of known veterans are living in rural communities across the United States (VA, 2022). Despite the Federal focus on veteran rural health, there needs to be more literature available on veteran success in community…

Community college faculty play a significant role in the educational lives of their students. The focus of this article is to outline the ways faculty can support their students' mental health beyond referring students to on- or off-campus resources such as a counseling center or support group. Strategies faculty can use such as leveraging…

This article proposes a new way of thinking about shared governance, focusing on the informal and sometimes unintentional interactions among faculty, staff, and even students. We argue that an operational place to start reconceptualizing shared governance is to look at the everyday interactions that collectively make up the hidden experiences of…