In 2023, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office launched Vision 2030. This bold plan provides a foundation for transformational change to ensure institutions work for students and provide equitable access to future learners through college. By working collaboratively as a system to advance the Vision 2030 priorities, colleges are…

"Free college" programs are widespread in American higher education. They are discussed as addressing college access, affordability, inequality, and skills shortages. Many are last-dollar tuition guarantees restricted to use at single community colleges. Using student-level data spanning the transition to college, we investigate how two…

This annual report details how California's 1.8 million community college students continued in 2022-2023 to make progress toward meeting -- and in some cases exceeding --- systemwide goals and again demonstrated why the state's 116 colleges are engines for equity and social mobility. As the Vision for Success has served students and California…

The California Community College (CCC) system serves a large student body, diverse in backgrounds, experiences, and educational goals. The accompanying report uses data from the CCC system's records to measure variation in achievement across the state's Strong Workforce Regions. The report considers a range of achievement measures, including…

This research aimed to determine if community college students who complete an associate degree before transferring are likelier to complete a baccalaureate degree than those who transfer before completing an associate degree. Additionally, this study examined if the type of institution, public vs. private, that a student transfers to impacts…

Rural students' college attendance rates continue to lag behind their non-rural counterparts (Ardoin, 2018; Barr, 2018; Byun et al., 2012; Byun et al., 2015; Byun et al., 2017; Friesen & Purc-Stephenson, 2016; Hlinka et al., 2018; Longhurst, 2014; McDonough et al., 2010; Morton et al., 2018; Tieken, 2016). While the body of research…

This paper presents findings from a randomized controlled trial studying a comprehensive program designed to support students in achieving their goals. One Million Degrees (OMD) is a nonprofit organization serving community college students in the Chicago metro area that supports students financially, academically, personally, and professionally.…

Social media has undoubtedly shifted the landscape of educator professional development in the 21st century. The establishment and development of identifiable professional learning communities (PLCs) like the #SSChat social studies community on Twitter enables educators to connect and collaborate with other professionals across the globe from…

"The Appalachian Region: A Data Overview from the 2017-2021 American Community Survey," also known as "The Chartbook," draws from the most recent American Community Survey and comparable Census Population Estimates. The report contains over 300,000 data points about Appalachia's economy, income, employment, education, and other…

This qualitative case study was completed at a rural medium-sized Texas community college and sought to understand how advisors and program coordinators made sense of the 60X30TX policy as it was implemented at their institution. The theoretical framework included community college, the Completion Agenda, structure-agency, and sensemaking. Each…

Objective: Six-year cohort completion rates calculated for California community college students--who declared their goal to obtain a certificate, associate degree, or become university transfer ready--averaged just below 50% for cohorts entering the fall semesters between 2007 and 2011. The range of this completion rate varied from 23% to 67%.…

Only 11% of community college (associate's-degree) students transfer vertically and obtain a bachelor's degree within six years, despite over 80% originally intending to do so. These leaks in the transfer pipeline disproportionately affect students from underrepresented groups, who are more likely to attend community colleges and to leak out of…

The transfer between two-year and four-year colleges is a critical path to baccalaureate attainment. Yet students face a number of barriers in transfer pathways, including a lack of coherent coordination and articulation between their community colleges and four-year institutions, resulting in excess units and increased time to degree. In this…

A bachelor's degree is increasingly necessary for securing a job that pays a family-supporting wage, yet while most community college students aspire to transfer and complete a bachelor's degree, too few make it through to this goal. This report, along with the companion report on four-year institutional outcomes, is designed to be used by…

A bachelor's degree is increasingly necessary for securing a job that pays a family-supporting wage, yet while most community college students aspire to transfer and complete a bachelor's degree, too few make it through to this goal. As is clear from the companion report on community college transfer outcomes, some responsibility for this lies…