This report presents the findings from an external evaluation of Project COMPASS, an effort by Wake Technical Community College to redesign community college online courses to improve outcomes, particularly for students of color. The evaluation used a randomized controlled trial in which students were randomly assigned to course sections taught by…

Over the last decade, higher education has come under intense scrutiny from the government; accrediting agencies in particular have come under fire for a lack of accountability and transparency. Reports from the Commission on the Future of Higher Education and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee served as a driving force for…

Rend Lake College (RLC) has participated in several Pathways to Results (PTR) projects over the last five years. The PTR model has been an essential tool to drive evidence-based changes throughout the College. In 2015, RLC used the PTR Model to evaluate institutional processes related to the Perkins Career and Technical Education (CTE) Student…

The Minority Student Success Project (MSSP) initiated in 1989 was designed to improve the recruitment and retention of minority students on campuses in the state of Washington. The results of a questionnaire on minority students administered to all of Washington's community colleges, and data from follow-up interviews, were used to design working…

The National Assessment of Vocational Education (NAVE) examined how the federal law was implemented and federal funds were distributed under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984. This part of the study examined the federal role in supporting vocational education at the postsecondary level. It examines enrollments, course-taking,…

In 2003, Lumina Foundation for Education launched a bold, multiyear, national initiative called "Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count," to help students stay in school and succeed. The initiative is focused particularly on students who have faced the most barriers to success, including low-income students and students of color.…

In January 1996, Prince George's Community College (PGCC) established the Campus Retention Committee to review community college retention strategies, determine PGCC's strengths and weaknesses in the area of retention, and develop a list of retention goals and an implementation schedule for the college. After reviewing findings from previous…

This Transfer Enhancement Plan was prepared by the Transfer Task Force from the City College of San Francisco (CCSF). The purpose of the plan is to improve the transfer success of all CCSF students. This report reviews current transfer structure, efforts, activities, and programs, and identifies successful transfer efforts that should be supported…

During 2003-07, the Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students (BEAMS) project fostered data-based campus change initiatives at more than 100 four-year Historically Black, Hispanic-Serving, and Tribal colleges and universities to increase student engagement and learning. Each campus made a commitment to analyze the scope and…

This 6-year project sought to develop programs to impact student academic success and retention. Three separate programs were developed to serve the learning improvement needs of different constituents and situations. All programs were offered at a large, land-grant research university. The Residential Success Program was designed to provide…

Responding to changes in the demands on the country's science and engineering research community since the end of the Cold War, the National Science Foundation (NSF) introduced the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program in 1997 to encourage science and engineering Ph.D. programs to provide their students with…