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…

Research generally finds that college students are more likely to complete a program of study if they choose a major that aligns with their interests and goals. Yet many new community college students do not have clear goals. Nearly 40% of community college students report being undecided about their major at the end of their first year (authors'…

Guided pathways reforms are emerging as a promising strategy for improving student outcomes and closing equity gaps at community colleges, but little is known about how the guided pathways approach can help address challenges facing adult students. This report discusses strategies that three Tennessee community colleges that have implemented…

This report describes how Ohio's two-year colleges are approaching guided pathways reforms, based on on-site interviews with faculty, administrators, staff, and students at six selected community colleges and telephone interviews with representatives from all 23 Ohio community colleges. In these interviews participants were asked to describe their…

Guided pathways reforms require colleges to rethink how they teach and support students. The case studies in Part 2 of this practitioner packet examine how colleges at the forefront of these reforms are transforming their programs and support services by implementing three key guided pathways practices: (1) meta-majors (clusters of programs in…

Guided pathways reforms can take several years to implement at scale because they require a thoroughgoing redesign of a college's major functions, including: (1) organizing programs into career-focused meta-majors to enhance student recruitment and exploration and program improvement; (2) mapping clear paths to degrees, employment, and further…

Across the United States, a growing number of colleges are redesigning their programs and student support services according to the "guided pathways" model. Central to this approach are efforts to clarify pathways to program completion, career advancement, and further education. Equally essential are efforts to help students explore…

This summary is a digest of key findings from "Implementing Guided Pathways: Early Insights From the AACC Pathways Colleges," a report based on Community College Research Center's (CCRC's) research on the 30 colleges involved in the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Pathways Project. The research presented in this report…