Objective/Research Question: This research explores how community college students, who are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and aspire to vertical transfer in STEM make choices about majors and transfer destinations. The question is important to advancing equity in STEM, which continues to…

Only a quarter of full-time U.S. students complete their desired goal from community college attendance, with the rate of success even lower for Latinx students. This panel-data regression study looks for evidence regarding the expected influence of increasing the presence of Latinx faculty or administrators on cohort completion rates for all…

Examining linked academic transcripts from urban community colleges and their feeder high schools, we identify math course-taking patterns that span sectors. We highlight stifled mobility and chronic repetition of math coursework in the transition to college, and we identify "math traps" from which students do not escape. Math mobility…

This Perspective builds on a related RAND Corporation report that describes the implementation of Findhelp at four North Carolina community colleges in 2021 and 2022. Findhelp is an online tool to connect students to resources in their communities to help meet their basic nonacademic needs. The North Carolina Community College System, with support…

Although there is high enrollment in online college courses, there are concerns about student engagement (Martin & Bolliger, 2018; Dumford & Miller, 2018). Gamification has been shown to have the potential to improve student engagement. The purpose of the study was to describe how academic student engagement is impacted by Nicholson's…

This study investigated the impact of training in self-regulated learning on community college, geoscience students' achievement, metacognition, time management, and science motivation scales. The study also investigated the impact of SRL training on these outcomes as a function of gender and ethnicity. During the Fall of 2022, 70 community…

Urban community colleges provide access to postsecondary education's most diverse and underserved student populations. Students enrolled in these institutions often face academic, financial, and social challenges that shrink their odds of success. Leaders from three urban community colleges in the Southern United States shared the importance of…

Muddiest point and peer instruction are evidence-based instructional practices that can be used to address student learning gaps. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of modality (face to face or online) on student perceptions of the effectiveness of combined muddiest point and peer instruction activities in community college…

This paper explores the ways ESOL writing instructors implement and assess participatory writing practices in the classroom using digital technologies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participatory writing practices are largely sociocultural in nature and thereby resist the notion of standardized and individualized practices to focus on co-creating a…

This causal comparative study examined group differences in college readiness using the "Redefining Ready" college readiness indicators for rural community college students. Additional analysis focused on evidence supporting a high school experience, or combination of high school experiences, that most accurately correlates with academic…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) students have unique needs when attending American community colleges. The purpose of this dissertation is to identify current policies and practices of community colleges when working with transgender students, explore best practices when it comes to serving…

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate self-efficacy as a potential mediator in the relationship between the amount of time students spent during high school participating in the arts and their current science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) motivation levels. The study participants (N = 68) were between the ages of…

LGBTQ students experience a lower sense of belonging at community colleges. The correlation between campus and classroom climate and academic success, campus involvement, identity, level of outness, and well-being for LGBTQ students contributes to their decreased sense of belonging. Non-LGBTQ-affirming and non-inclusive community college campuses…

Objective: To better understand differing needs of US and foreign-born pregnant and/or parenting community college students. Participants/Methods: We conducted online survey with 608 students living in a rural Midwestern state who were pregnant and/or parenting, 15% of whom were born outside of the United States. We used chi-square tests to…

This study examined areas of concern within the community college level of higher education affecting the retention and attrition rates of African American male first-year students at three community colleges in the state of New Jersey. It used a four-stage investigative design to identify variable factors that are correlated to retention and…