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…

In the article "Understanding Writer Center Use among Community College Students," Christina Savarese addresses the reasons students use the writing center, understanding those reasons, and using them to identify ways the writing center administrators and tutors can better serve their student population. Additional research findings…

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,…

This study determined the optimal tuition subsidy necessary to increase two- and four-year college graduation in Texas. The study also estimated the per pupil and total cost of potential subsidies, and compared how they might affect college graduation rates. The goal of this exercise was to provide guidance on how the state could achieve the Texas…

As state budgets are continuously tightened, and state dollars dwindle to cover only the bare necessities, resources must be carefully examined and utilized to increase efficiency and effectiveness; one such area in which higher education institutions must concentrate on allocating and streamlining resources is to increase the retention and…

In this essay, we explore program reviews as important sites for the tension Peter Ewell defines at the core of outcomes assessment practices: that is, between assessing for accountability and assessing for improvement. We address this tension through the example of our Industrial Design program on our urban campus in New York City. In exploring…

In 2015, Tennessee launched Tennessee Promise (TN Promise), one of the most comprehensive and well-funded statewide free-college scholarship programs in the country. To support TN Promise students, and especially those from the lowest-income households, tnAchieves, a key partner facilitating all non-financial components of TN Promise, implemented…

Supporting Strategic Writers (SSW) is an instructional approach and curriculum for college developmental English and integrated reading and writing courses. SSW is based on strategy instruction integrated with practices common in college English. Students learn strategies for writing and critical reading of sources based on rhetorical analysis and…

Multiple measures assessment (MMA) has gained considerable momentum over the past decade as an alternative to traditional test-based procedures for placing incoming students into developmental or college-level coursework in math and English at broad-access colleges. Compared to standardized tests, which measure student performance at a single…

Historically, colleges have used standardized testing to determine whether a student is ready for college-level work or requires developmental courses first, but this method has been criticized as inaccurate. To obtain more accurate placements, nearly three-quarters of colleges now use multiple measures assessment (MMA) systems. These systems…

This Perspective builds on a related RAND Corporation report that describes the implementation of Findhelp at four North Carolina community colleges in 2021 and 2022. Findhelp is an online tool to connect students to resources in their communities to help meet their basic nonacademic needs. The North Carolina Community College System, with support…

The New York City P-TECH 9-14 schools are an educational model that ties together the secondary, higher education, and workforce systems to improve outcomes across domains. The distinguishing feature of the model is a partnership among a high school, a community college, and one or more employer partners that focuses on preparing students for both…

The New York City P-TECH 9-14 schools are an educational model that ties together the secondary, higher education, and workforce systems to improve outcomes across domains. The distinguishing feature of the model is a partnership among a high school, a community college, and one or more employer partners that focuses on preparing students for both…

This research project sought to evaluate potential barriers limiting the use of augmented reality welding simulators into career and technical education welding curricula. This study used quantitative and qualitative case studies to address five objectives: (1) What is the operating cost of a CTE welding program, (2) Are there cost savings on…

We estimate the societal costs associated with corequisite and traditional pre-requisite English developmental education and compare them to societal benefits. Our context is the randomized controlled trial conducted by Miller et al. (2022) that estimated the effects of three different approaches to English corequisites implemented in 5 Texas…