The main purpose of this planning tool is to help community colleges facilitate productive conversations and develop systemwide plans to raise student completion rates substantially. The planning tool is initially targeted at colleges participating in the Completion by Design initiative. Based on these colleges' experiences and feedback, the…

Completion by Design, an initiative sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, seeks to raise community college completion rates for large numbers of students while containing college costs, maintaining open access, and ensuring the quality of college programs and credentials. The goal of this guide is to assist community college…

This chapter describes examples of local pathways and statewide policies that align community college standards and curricula with those at high schools and four-year colleges and universities.

Major demographic shifts in the population of the United States, combined with persistent gaps in educational achievement by ethnic group, could decrease the portion of the workforce with college-level skills over the next 15 years, with a consequent decline in per capita personal income in the United States. Meanwhile, the competitive edge of…

This case study is part of a broader research project examining state policies and governance structures that span K-12 and postsecondary education. Florida has implemented some of the most sweeping education governance changes of any state; all levels of education are housed in the Department of Education, which is overseen by a commissioner who…

This case study is part of a broader research project examining state policies and governance structures that span K-12 and postsecondary education. Georgia was the first state to have state and regional P-16 councils, and its regents' office in the University System of Georgia oversees a variety of projects that focus on connecting K-12 and…