In higher education, the underachievement of minority males is consistently reflected in research, where data have shown a persistence gap separating minority males from other student groups in measures of academic progress and college completion. Campuses typically did little, if anything, to build the capacity of faculty and staff to educate and…

With a looming enrollment crisis, colleges must explore new efforts for developing strategic and sustainable partnerships that support institutional advancement. As such, Kent State University (KSU) partnered with three regional, two-year institutions developing high-impact pathways to expand upon the transfer student experience and success rates.…

In an era where STEM expertise is desperately needed to help solve critical world challenges, ensuring the success of students in STEM, particularly those who have been historically marginalized, underserved, and/or excluded, has never been more pressing. In response to this challenge, the authors, informed by the work of the National Academies…

This ROI data tool provides an overview of the median ROI among certificate, associate's, and bachelor's degree-granting institutions, at the 10-, 15-, 20-, 30-, and 40-year time horizons. An interactive table allows viewers to compare ROI across institutions, by degree type, state, and the control of the institution (public, private nonprofit, or…

This issue of "DataPoints" features data recently released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center highlighting completion and persistence patterns for different racial and ethnic groups. The data show Asian students who started at public two-year institutions have higher persistence and completion rates than any other…

Branch campuses are the open doors to those who would not otherwise be able to attend college. They are an open-access, four and two-year public regional campus. Because of open access, many students come to the branch campuses academically underprepared, struggle with math and writing deficiencies, and have difficulties acclimating to college.…

Providing pathways that support geoscience transfer students from two-year colleges (2YC) to four-year colleges and universities (4YCU) addresses enrollment challenges, diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, and helps build the 21st-century geoscience workforce. Building bridges between 2YC-4YCU programs can happen in various ways, all of which…

As one of the STEM disciplines with the lowest percentages of minoritized students and professionals, faculty and administrators in the geosciences have an opportunity to address racism within the context of their classrooms and campuses. In response, a group of community college geoscience faculty from disparate institutions across the U.S. came…

This chapter describes the last 30 years of the engagement of community college faculty with one physics professional society. Plans are under development for establishing a National Center for Physics focused on two-year colleges.

"Scaling Completion" highlights Complete College America (CCA)'s work in 2023 to: (1) Lead the field to improve college completion rates, particularly for historically underserved students; (2) Engage and bring together leaders to eliminate institutional performance gaps; and (3) Build capacity to create and implement data-informed…

Pell Grants are the cornerstone of federal financial aid for low-income students enrolled in postsecondary education. Currently, these grants are available only to those who seek an initial undergraduate degree or credential for a program lasting at least a typical semester. Because these rules may restrict access to programs providing skills…

Two-year college mathematics teaching has interesting challenges, and it helps to have a national organization representing the profession that provides professional development, issues position statements on relevant topics, and cultivates leaders. This chapter illustrates how the AMATYC organization provides these services.

In this chapter, we examine how professional organizations shape teaching and programmatic excellence in two-year college writing instruction and how two-year college English faculty are reshaping two-year college writing studies to advance equitable educational access and outcomes.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) supports community college chemistry faculty by addressing curriculum, laboratory, and safety issues; however, these faculty are underrepresented in the ACS governance structure, which contributes to under-serving two-year college specific needs and low engagement by two-year faculty in the ACS.

Capstone engineering design courses have been a feature at research universities and four-year schools for many years. Although such classes are less common at two-year colleges, the experience is equally beneficial for this population of students. With this in mind, Madison College introduced a project-based Engineering Design course in 2007.…