Communities in California and around the country are implementing learning hubs to provide in-person education supports to students who are distance learning. In this brief, we explore a prevalent learning hub model and raise considerations for local policymakers, schools, and expanded learning partners. We include guidance for the design and…

While community colleges excel at expanding postsecondary enrollments, these institutions often struggle to help students succeed. A chorus of school leaders and policymakers increasingly agree that broad-based, comprehensive organizational change is needed to drastically improve community college student success and equity. The Guided Pathways…

Academic advising is a High-Impact Practice that supports better outcomes for all students, particularly those encountering structural barriers to success. This paper presents a case study of processes followed in a three-year project (2018-20) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) to conceptualise, design, and start implementing an academic…

Millions of students leave college every year before earning a degree. At community colleges, only a third of full-time students graduate within three years. How can school administrators help students stay in school and eventually graduate? Higher education institutions commonly offer students advising services to help them develop the academic…

Colleges support students with advising, counseling, or coaching in academics and other skills they need to succeed in school. Some colleges enhance those services through reduced adviser caseloads and more comprehensive, frequent guidance, which can improve students' semester-to-semester retention and average credits earned. This overview…

Community colleges play a critical role in providing access to higher education for over two million Californians seeking an educational foundation that will prepare them to transfer to a four-year university or to participate in the workforce. However, community colleges have not always delivered on that promise--fewer than half of students who…

This paper reports findings from a researcher-practitioner partnership (2015-18) that examined how adult education providers in Chicago, Houston, and Miami are designing and implementing career pathways (CP) programming, particularly for immigrants and adults with limited education. This Institute of Education Sciences-funded study was the first…

Helping more students achieve their dreams involves identifying a wider set of student needs--including financial challenges and family responsibilities--and offering redesigned support services to meet them holistically. This holistic student supports approach emphasizes the need for colleges to redefine the way they understand, design, integrate…

With research indicating that upwards of 50 percent of all new entering postsecondary education students are placed into remedial education and that students placed into remedial education are less likely to earn a postsecondary credential, policymakers and postsecondary leaders alike have committed themselves to transforming remedial education in…