Higher Education and its evolution in the twentieth century has seen a paradigm shift and an increased focus on the disconnect of the classroom with the employment field and market. Higher education has been presented with the challenge of not only understanding how one behaves and adapts to transitions but the approach and how to analyze a change…

Student success is a movement mobilizing various community college stakeholders to make policy and institutional change. More recently, researchers, policy leaders, and other community college stakeholders suggest expanding definitions of student success to include community college student post-graduate labor market outcomes, as community college…

Working while in college is frequently treated as an impediment to academic success. However, many students need to work to meet their financial obligations, especially community college students, who are more likely to be from low-income families than four-year college students. This study reconceptualizes student employment--specifically campus…

Cooperative education (co-op) programs combine coursework and work internships and have become popular worldwide. Using over 45,000 performance evaluations collected separately for in-person (2019) and remote (2021) internship positions, this study uncovered the characteristics of successful co-op students. Each evaluation included an overall…

This study examines the root causes of student success and struggle in the first semester of a community college tuition-free promise program. The research is set within the context of the Gateway2NKU River Cities Promise Program (RCPP), a partnership between Gateway Community and Technical College (Gateway) and Northern Kentucky University (NKU)…

Student employees are essential to academic libraries on college and university campuses. The employment programme at this mid-sized university library intentionally seeks to engage students in work that not only benefits the library, but also provides students the opportunity to learn and hone skills that can contribute to academic and…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of Black male first-generation college graduates who successfully completed at least their bachelor's degree. Two research questions guided the study: Research Question 1: How did the Black first-generation college graduate describe their lived experience…

Based on a recent survey, this issue of "DataPoints" finds that work, expenses and family issues are the top three challenges to success cited by community college students. A breakdown of those categories shows the specific hurdles.

This two-year case study summarizes the views of students, instructors, and administrators toward a learning community program that served first-year developmental reading students at a public two-year college. One-on-one interviews and focus groups revealed that semester-long learning communities helped students overcome obstacles toward academic…

Students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds often contend with financial issues that have the potential to impact significantly on their success in higher education. Research has shown that students from low SES backgrounds often find themselves under economic pressure to prioritise paid work over their education. Few studies have…

Student affairs professionals are concerned about the access and success of diverse groups of students in U.S. higher education, but systematic barriers continue to confront one understudied population of college students. Justice-involved people--those who have experienced the criminal justice system--face unique challenges on our campuses but…

Community colleges are mission-driven institutions committed to access and community needs. They serve a diverse population: The majority of students are employed, so they have to balance work with school; about one-third are first-generation, so they are navigating an unfamiliar system for the first time in their families; and 15% are single…

The complexity and scope of the challenges today's students face explain why community and technical colleges across the country are reexamining the student experience and the support services they provide. As open access institutions, community and technical colleges by their very existence open the doors of higher education and workforce…

As with other student populations community colleges serve, part-time students often face multiple challenges that present additional barriers to completion, including unfamiliarity with the college experience, parenthood, and food and housing insecurity. Community colleges have historically opened their doors to all those interested in pursuing…

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) educate nearly two-thirds of the Hispanic/Latinx students who attend college. Yet little is known about the student populations they serve. Findings from two NSF-funded surveys completed with students at 14 HSIs in Texas and New Mexico in 2018 and four HSIs in TX in 2019 are presented. The combined sample was…