Metallica's All Within My Hands is a workforce education initiative that provides direct support to community colleges to enhance their career and technical education programs. In 2019, AWMH--alongside initiative sponsor the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC)--provided 10 schools with $100,000 each for tuition help, safety gear and…

To help the nation respond to the pandemic, Congress injected about $4.6 trillion into the U.S. economy through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and subsequent legislation. Of this amount, over $75 billion was directed to institutions of higher education through the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund,…

This research study examined the experiences of nontraditional community college students attending through a tuition-free grant. The intent of the study was to explore the student identified barriers to degree persistence and the student support services nontraditional students recognize as being beneficial towards their academic journey. This…

This study explores the issue of food insecurity within community colleges in Texas and highlights administrator's responses toward best and most promising practices and challenges in addressing food insecurity. The research was guided by complex adaptive systems theory and cynefin. Food insecurity among college students, especially community…

To provide fast and direct economic aid to the American people negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enacted a series of laws and injected about $4.6 trillion into the U.S. economy. Of this amount, over $75 billion was directed to institutions of higher education through the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Funds. This…

In this chapter, we draw on the data collected during our evaluations of six TAACCCT grants to describe the challenges, successes, and transformative effect of adopting a developmental evaluation approach for community college programs.

With tuition increasing at a faster rate than inflation, many college students depend on grants to access education. The largest of these, the federally funded Pell Grant, subsidizes over 30 billion a year worth of tuition for eligible students (Cardona, 2023) yet no longer meets its goal of covering 75% percent of tuition costs. While the…

The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto study was to understand if select student characteristics (student status, age, gender, Pell status) predicted student success. In this study, student success is defined as acceptance into a dental hygiene program and completion of a dental hygiene program for Black students at a community college.…

A widely cited Emory University study found that while 76% of incarcerated Americans return to prison within five years, that rate drops to 55% for those who take high school classes, 30% for those who complete vocational training, and 13.7% for those who complete an associate degree. Community colleges play a key role in ensuring that people…

Many community college students are hungry, and this problem has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The amply available Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds, created by the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act, have helped institutions address campus hunger during and after the pandemic. The study's guiding research…

Pursuant to California Education Code provisions 17201(i)(1)(B)(C), 17203.5, and 66014.6, the California Community Colleges Student Housing 2024 report provides the following information: (1) the 2024 Annual Progress on California Community Colleges Affordable Student Housing; (2) the 2024 California Community Colleges Housing Insecurity; and (3)…

Now that federal Pell Grant funding has been reinstated for learners who are incarcerated, the field is in flux. Higher education in prison programs and their home institutions, departments of correction, and accreditation and oversight bodies are all adapting and developing their practices to meet new policy and regulation needs. Two major facets…

Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program was an unprecedented investment in community colleges. This chapter describes the history and context for this grant program, as well as its strategies and outcomes.

Objective: This article analyzes the implementation of two state grant programs in Tennessee aimed at improving the quality of in-demand postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) programming at community and technical colleges. We use insights from our findings to propose a conceptual framework for understanding how external funding can…

From 2016-2023, College Futures Foundation supported several California State University (CSU) campuses to partner with California community colleges in their regions to increase the number of students transferring from community colleges and completing bachelor's degrees at the CSU. In an effort to learn more about this work, College Futures…