This dissertation examines the relationship between community colleges and prisons as similar institutions that absorb and manage displaced workers, economic refugees, and dispossessed adult populations. Based on interviews with adult learners in two community college settings, I discuss how these two seemingly distinctive institutions work…

While a class gap remains in obtaining a degree despite an expansion of higher education, a variety of second chances have become available. How class matters in receiving parental assistance for seeking a second chance is of increasing importance to understanding educational inequality in an altered context of higher education, but it is…

In this article, I offer a critical feminist theoretical reflection on my lived experiences as a working-class White woman as a challenge to some of the dominant narratives in academia. In particular, I describe my development of feminist and class-consciousness as an "organic intellectual." I discuss changes to my working-class identity and the…

This report shares the perspectives and aspirations of 17 low-income and working-class students based on interviews the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) conducted over two semesters of their college journeys. The report identifies opportunities for policymakers and institutional leaders to support all students through completion,…

College-choice studies have long been conducted to help colleges improve their recruitment strategies (Chapman, 1981; Hossler & Gallagher, 1987; Jackson, 1982; Litten, 1982). The dominant college-choice models and studies have, however, focused solely on traditional aged students seeking to enroll in four-year colleges/universities upon high…

Fields of inquiry intent on making social class differences visible and relevant in higher education and society at large are newly developing. Researchers continue to identify significant obstacles to degree attainment and hence to social mobility for working-class and low income students. A college student's social class background can…

This paper adds to the small but growing body of literature which probes the complex decision-making processes undertaken by minority ethnic students, and particularly working-class minority ethnic students, when choosing a higher education institution. Previous studies have focussed on areas with ethnically diverse local populations. This article…

Describes characteristics of working-class people who are attending community colleges. Discusses InfoPLACE, a comprehensive career-planning resource center serving a socioeconomic cross-section of clients from a public library setting. Offers that using InfoPLACE before reaching the college campus can be beneficial. Presents examples of…

As part of a larger exploration of the role of community colleges in bringing the poor, working class, and ethnic minorities into higher education, this study looked at how students and institutional cultures at four urban community colleges interacted to achieve unusually high transfer rates to four-year colleges and universities. In the 1994-95…