Increasing the number of college students who earn STEM credentials and enter STEM careers remains a national priority, as does the need to diversify the population of STEM workers by race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic background. This fact sheet describes how community colleges hold potential for diversifying the STEM workforce as well as…

Employer-provided training is the dominant form of skill development among American workers, but when it comes to training that people can seek out on their own, community colleges are just one of many options that include job training programs run by government agencies, nonprofits, proprietary schools, online programs, and unions. This brief…

This guide presents examples and instructions for data analyses colleges can conduct to better understand student enrollments and completions in particular programs. Such analyses can help colleges scrutinize representation of historically marginalized groups in programs leading to greater opportunity after graduation. There is an equity…

In a corequisite approach to developmental education, students enroll in a college-level course paired concurrently with a support course designed to address student learning needs in a given subject. This report, sponsored by Strong Start to Finish, examines early college outcomes of students placed into corequisite reading courses at the 13…

To build back enrollments after a decade of downward trends, community colleges need to substantially increase retention as well as recruitment, particularly among students from underserved groups, who represent a growing share of prospective college students. Community College Research Center (CCRC) has developed a framework called…

Based on responses that Ohio community colleges provided on CCRC's Guided Pathways Scale of Adoption Assessment (SOAA) as well as on semi-structured follow-up interviews, this report examines how these colleges--which have been engaged in guided pathways reform for several years--are innovating within the model to provide personalized support…

The City University of New York's (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) provides wraparound services for eligible students, including financial, academic, and personal support. First piloted in 2007, ASAP has been shown to substantially increase three-year completion rates at CUNY's community colleges. To build on the program's…

CCRC's 2015 book "Redesigning America's Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success" catalyzed a national community college reform movement. Since its publication, hundreds of community colleges have sought to implement whole-college reforms using the guided pathways model outlined in the book, either on their own or as part of…

Nationally, 15% of first-time community college students were high school students taking college coursework through dual enrollment (DE) in the fall of 2010, and the percentage has risen since then. The growing numbers of DE students at community colleges raises concerns about how high school peers might influence traditionally aged college…

This brief summarizes findings from a study in which we examined postsecondary college transcript and degree records from hundreds of thousands of transfer-intending community college students in three states. Our aim was to explore and test metrics that could be useful in the formative assessment of efforts to improve STEM transfer outcomes. Our…

Until recently, most community colleges have done little through the new student onboarding process to help entering students explore academic and career interests, choose a program of study aligned to their interests, and develop a plan for completing such a program. This has been the case even though many students start college without clear…

Compared with four-year colleges, community colleges serve a vastly disproportionate number of undergraduate students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and lower-income backgrounds. Yet the sector remains under-resourced--unable to compete against politically connected state four-year systems and flagship campuses for limited public…

This one-page profile is part of a practitioner packet providing guidance to colleges seeking to redesign their new student onboarding practices to better help students explore, choose, and plan a program of study best suited to their interests and aspirations. It supplements Part 1 of the packet, "Redesigning Community College Student…

Using transcript-level data from two community college state systems and a nationally representative survey, this short report examines how course-taking in humanities and liberal arts at community colleges affects transfer and outcomes at four-year colleges. Key findings: (1) Transfer students typically complete only a few courses in humanities…

This short report provides a systematic accounting of the provision of humanities and liberal arts education at public colleges in the United States, including community colleges. Key findings: (1) Humanities and liberal arts education in America's colleges is not in decline. Across the nation's community colleges, the number and share of…