Guided pathways, a program that aims to improve college completion and student success through remodeling of the student journey, supports learners in choosing a program of study, ideally resulting in transfer to a four-year school or the start of a lucrative career with a two-year degree. Colleges that employ a guided pathways model are seeing…

Despite research pointing to the crucial role nonacademic staff play in student success in higher education, large-scale reform efforts at community colleges and elsewhere typically focus little direct attention on interpersonal interactions between students and staff. Caring Campus is a program developed and administered by the Institute for…

A growing body of evidence reveals that a central factor in low completion rates for community college students is the "cafeteria" style approach to college, which provides entering students with a dizzying array of choices and little guidance on navigating those choices. A poor decision on which classes to take can cost community…

Approximately half of students at the community college level leave the institution before degree completion. Community college students are more likely than four-year students to be first-generation students, attend school part-time, be less prepared academically, work full-time, have family responsibilities, and have entered college later in…

Many adult students struggle to finance their educations, often contending with work and child care expenses in addition to the extra cost of remedial courses. Moreover, there is little need-based grant aid to help. This report presents early findings from an evaluation of a program in New York City targeted to low-income adults (ages 22 to 35)…

This dissertation focuses on the impact of various community college environments on student persistence. Persistence is defined in the study as enrolling in the second semester of a student's first year at Schoolcraft College in Michigan. The study used information from placement tests and a college experiences survey to gather data from 1,263…

This study compares the retention rates between students at Tunxis Community-Technical Colleges who took the student development seminar and those who did not. Implemented in fall 1997, the seminar orients new students to the college experience, attempting to increase retention rates. In order to conduct the study, a review of the literature was…

The Indiana Vocational Technical College (IVTC) is a state-supported two-year college with 22 campuses across Indiana. In January 1992, as part of a college-wide effort to improve institutional effectiveness, an eight-member Retention Committee (RC) was established, consisting of executive and instructional deans; directors of student services;…

Ranken Technical College, a small, private, non-profit, two-year technical college in St. Louis, developed a plan whereby at-risk students would be flagged, their needs assessed, and programs put into place to meet those needs. The desired result was a higher retention rate, especially among minorities. The following components were found to be…

In January 1991, Portland Community College (PCC) received Title III funding to develop a computerized student tracking and advising system designed to provide maximum academic assistance to at-risk students. The goals of the project included the following: (1) develop a student information system to link student service units; (2) design and…

Students and Teachers Achieving Results (STAR) is a student-centered learning project developed by Long Beach City College, in California, to increase the success and retention rates of underrepresented students. Through STAR, students are provided with a program of linked courses that develop communication skills, utilize interdisciplinary…

In September 1992, a peer mentoring program was initiated at Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC), in California, to address the disproportionately low enrollment and retention rates of minority and disabled students. This handbook is designed for colleges considering establishing similar mentoring programs and provides background information on…

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…