Objective: In this study, we were interested in investigating how Undocumented Student Resource Centers (USRCs) as counter-spaces were developed and sustained within community colleges. Method: We conceptualized USRCs as counter-spaces and conducted interviews with 19 staff and students coordinating the work of USRCs. Results: Three themes emerged…

Objective: This research study examined textbook costs and student success rates at one community college in the Southwest United States. Method: Descriptive statistics were used in the study to identify the mean textbook costs and student success rates over five semesters. Chi-square tests for independence were used to determine if a…

Objectives: Responding to Tinto's call for studies of retention that center on "the students' view of their experience" (p. 11), this research project reports findings from telephone interviews of 131 students who stopped out at our home institution, a large open admissions community college in the northeast. Our objective was to find…

Introduction: While a considerable amount of extant scholarship describes the importance of and strategies for improving the postsecondary pathways of Black engineering students, most literature is contextualized within 4-year institutions. Objectives: The purpose of this article is to illuminate Black engineering students' experiences at…

Objective: Superiority experiments supply a critical lens to probe higher education interventions because they can dismantle the collective effect of a program and identify the relative contribution of the core components. However, such lines of inquiry are generally absent in higher education literature. We draw on experimental data to probe the…

Objective: Dual enrollment has become a significant portion of community college enrollment throughout the country. Some scholars have argued that dual enrollment implementation can be used as a viable policy lever to achieve the certificate and associate degree obtainment outcomes identified in "Reclaiming the American Dream," a…

Objective: Students' enrollment intensity during their first academic semester and year are highly influential in their success and decisions to persist in community college. Limited research, however, has focused on understanding how students navigate the decision-making process of determining their credit load or how institutional support…

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the potential co-occurrence of basic needs insecurity and mental health problems among community college students. These barriers to student success are gaining significant attention from college leaders and scholars, but they are often addressed in isolation, ignoring the potential reinforcing…

Research Question: The vast amount of material available on-line has prompted researchers to understand how undergraduate students sort and select, or evaluate, the results that emerge from their searches. Since students depend on on-line material to facilitate their learning of course material, understanding the basis of their process is…

Objective: This study examined the statistical association between net tuition and changes in degree aspirations among community college students. In addition, the study explored the moderating influence of unmet financial need. Method: Analyses relied on data from the most recent iteration of the Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal…

Objective: In view of the values of individualism and competition embedded in neoliberalism and global capitalism, this paper seeks to illustrate empirically students' instrumentalism in higher education, and to explore how far such instrumentalism could be conceptualized as student alienation. Method: The illustration relies on experiences of…

Objective: This article explores the experiences of 32 first-generation immigrant and refugee students as they transition into and out of community college. The challenges students face and the resources on which they draw in their educational pursuits are viewed through Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital. Method: This project utilizes an…

Objective: This study examines the labor market gains for students who enrolled at for-profit colleges after beginning their postsecondary education in community college. Method: We use student-level administrative record data from college transcripts, unemployment insurance earnings data, and progression data from the National Student…

Objective: The COVID-19 global pandemic has created severe, long-lasting challenges to college students in the United States (US). In the present study, we assessed mental health symptomatology (depression, anxiety, life stress), academic challenges, and economic stress during the first wave of the Coronavirus pandemic. Method: A total sample of…

Objective: Most community colleges receiving the Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) designation have no specific mission to serve Hispanic students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how receiving an HSI designation affects the identity and practices of a community college. Method: Ten years of institutional documents…