This dissertation examines the impacts of a last-dollar promise program on high school-to-college enrollments at a very large community college (VLCC) district in Texas. The research intends to add to the current literature on the growing popularity of promise programs at two-year community colleges. Specifically, this quantitative study examines…

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…

The college promise -- or "free college" -- movement is rapidly expanding throughout the United States; however, there is much to learn about community colleges' organizational responses to promise programs and corresponding partnerships with nonprofit organizations that are involved in some programs. Using institutional logics to frame…

"Free college" programs are widespread in American higher education. They are discussed as addressing college access, affordability, inequality, and skills shortages. Many are last-dollar tuition guarantees restricted to use at single community colleges. Using student-level data spanning the transition to college, we investigate how two…

Although the community college's original intent was to fulfill a mission dedicated to offering a low-cost, high-quality education to its community, fulfilling its mission is has become more difficult based on ever-increasing financial stresses being placed upon it by various constituent groups. As such, a growing piece of the community college…

This chapter illustrates the potential promise and complexities of free college initiatives from the perspective of administrators, faculty, staff, and students who are involved in a scholarship program at a small Midwestern community college. Based on two waves of interviews conducted in 2019 and 2021 respectively, we found that, while largely…

The focus of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of parents located in one middle Tennessee school district regarding the Tennessee Promise scholarship. The perception of the parents regarding the role of the school counselor in assisting families in the college choice process for high school seniors as they prepare for after…

The Columbus Promise, a place-based tuition-free college program for graduates of Columbus City Schools, was created in 2021 and began granting scholarships to the high school graduating class of 2022. The initial phase of the Columbus Promise is a three-year pilot covering the high school graduating classes of 2022, 2023, and 2024. The overriding…

This article provides an overview of community colleges as an access point to higher education, specifically for individuals without a high school diploma. The article highlights how one community college system is addressing both postsecondary access and workforce demands through policy and practice change. The Louisiana Community and Technical…

This qualitative study examines Tennessee Promise students' (N = 60) perceptions of supports and resources during their first year of college. Students' reflections suggest that they hold expectations for support from the state beyond scholarship dollars, and that other actors, including faculty, staff, parents, and the state's nonprofit partner,…

Everett Community College (EvCC) made numerous changes to retain and support students enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education during the coronavirus pandemic. Drawing on insights from EvCC faculty and staff affiliated with a National Science Foundation (NSF) S-STEM scholarship grant called the "EvCC STEM…

While research has documented outcomes for students served by promise programs, few studies have considered the behavior of institutions themselves in the promise era. A new source of revenue combined with larger and more diverse cohorts is likely to motivate changes in spending and staffing--decisions instrumental to student access and success.…

This study examined the initial impact of the 2021 amendment to the Student Excellence Equals Degree (SEED) legislation on adult student program recipients at Delaware Technical Community College (Delaware Tech) in the state of Delaware. Additionally, the study explored the characteristics of adult student program recipients. The researcher used a…

Get A Skill, Get A Job, Get Ahead (G3) is a state-funded last-dollar scholarship program for students enrolling in eligible associate degree, certificate, and noncredit occupational training programs in the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) in five high-demand fields: early childhood education, healthcare, information technology, public…

It has been four years since Mike DeWine was first sworn in to serve as Ohio's 70th governor, joined by Jon Husted as lieutenant governor. From the very beginning, Governor DeWine requested that his Cabinet listen carefully to the people of the state and then proceed to act with a sense of urgency to strengthen and improve the great state of Ohio.…