In a year that has upended higher education and created great uncertainty, it is more important than ever for students to understand which colleges payoff and how quickly. In April of 2020, Third Way released a report outlining the use of a Price-to-Earnings Premium (PEP) to evaluate the value of attending college and help students assess and…

Intermediaries that design and build work-based learning delivery systems believe that postsecondary credentials--certifications and degrees (both associate's and bachelor's)--are a requirement for most good jobs. Indeed, such credentials increase access to economic mobility and, ultimately, greater equity. When coupled with work-based learning…

The goal of the Texas Reverse Transfer Initiative (TRTI) was the development of low-cost, scalable, and sustainable systems and procedures for reverse transfer. Reverse transfer occurs when universities monitor transfer students' semester credit hour (SCH) accumulation and send their transcripts back to the community college students previously…

This paper studies the effect of exposure to female and male "high-achievers" in high school on the long-run educational outcomes of their peers. Using data from a recent cohort of students in the United States, we identify a causal effect by exploiting quasi-random variation in the exposure of students to peers with highly educated…

This research brief describes college attainment for students pursuing professional-technical education. Using a cohort of 36,700 first-time in college (FTIC) students who started college between 2010 and 2012, this analysis focuses on students whose goal in their final year was a professional-technical education. The cohort was given four years…

While the Pell Grant covers a substantial proportion of college tuition for low-income students, it has covered only two full-time semesters per year and has not included any support for summer courses through most of its history. As research has shown that continuous enrollment throughout the year increases college persistence and completion, the…

Sub-baccalaureate degrees represent a growing and distinctive sector of American higher education. However, policymakers and community colleges lack a clear understanding of the specific competencies learned in these programs that are useful in graduates' careers. In particular, they overlook non-academic skills. This study uses qualitative…

This article reports a benefit-cost evaluation of the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) of the City University of New York (CUNY). ASAP was designed to accelerate associate degree completion within 3 years of degree enrollment at CUNY's community colleges. The program evaluation revealed that the completion rate for the examined…

Community and technical colleges serve a vital function in STEM education by training workers for medium- and high-skilled technical careers and providing employers the labor necessary to operate and maintain thriving business ventures. A curriculum developed with the elements of a systems-based approach results in a program more relevant to the…

Applied and experiential learning strategies have been incorporated into allied health and nursing curricula for years, often in the form of clinical rotations and internships/externships. There appears to be, however, a lack of research regarding student satisfaction with these learning experiences, particularly in two-year, associate degree…

Inclusion means that students with disabilities have access to high-quality and effective instruction, as well as specialized services as needed, within least restrictive environments. We believe there are no limits on who can or should participate in and benefit from inclusion and we were interested in perceptions resulting from professional…

The "Current Term Enrollment Estimates Report Series" is published every December and May by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. It provides national enrollment estimates by institutional sector, enrollment intensity, age group, gender, major field as well as state-level enrollment estimates. The average age for different…

The widespread notion of a general student debt "crisis" creates an exaggerated image of the problems associated with borrowing for college and diverts attention from the serious difficulties some students and former students face. A disproportionate amount of attention goes to the $1.5 trillion dollars in outstanding student debt.…

Despite the expansion in the number of career programs outside of traditional higher education in recent years, little is known about the range of programs offered and their long-term value. This research examines the variety of training programs that adult workers participate in and examines the experiences and outcomes associated with this…

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the highest unemployment that the U.S. has seen since the Great Depression, with particularly heavy job losses for Black, Hispanic, and Native American workers. In this set of studies commissioned by Lumina Foundation, the authors examine actions that states and community colleges can take to address the needs of…