A widely cited Emory University study found that while 76% of incarcerated Americans return to prison within five years, that rate drops to 55% for those who take high school classes, 30% for those who complete vocational training, and 13.7% for those who complete an associate degree. Community colleges play a key role in ensuring that people…

This chapter describes how Clark State Community College used its TAACCCT grant in manufacturing to help drive organizational changes in the college to better serve local workforce needs.

While the Pell Grant covers a substantial proportion of college tuition for low-income students, it has covered only two full-time semesters per year and has not included any support for summer courses through most of its history. As research has shown that continuous enrollment throughout the year increases college persistence and completion, the…

Ensuring that the federal investment in TAACCCT has a lasting legacy is important to community colleges and the nation. Exploring the notion of transformative change, this chapter describes research and development associated with the Transformative Change Initiative (TCI), including seven guiding principles to sustain and scale change in…

This chapter describes examples of Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training-funded innovations that resulted in statewide systemic change, including approaches to accelerate adult credential attainment, new approaches to data collection and analysis, enhanced individualized student support, and stronger industry alignment.

These administrative rules of the Illinois Community College Board are divided into eight sections. Under Title 23: Education and Cultural Resources, Subtitle A: Education, Chapter VII: Illinois Community College Board, the following parts are included: (1) Part 1501 Administration of the Illinois Public Community College Act; (2) Part 1502 Joint…

This chapter aims to extend conversations around educational equity by emphasizing the role of community college contexts as a mediator between policy reform and student experience. Narratives of Tennessee (TN) Reconnect Grant recipients indicate that community college contexts related to advising and student support services and enrollment,…

Community college enrollment has significantly declined since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between the spring 2020 term and the spring 2022 term, community college enrollment declined by nearly 17 percent nationwide. This alarming trend has posed a threat to the well-being of community colleges and the students they serve, which includes…

The COVID-19 pandemic has generated an unprecedented wave of challenges for students, faculty, and staff. In March 2020, a thousand community colleges in the United States shifted to online instruction, which affected around 10 million students. Community colleges are used to responding to their communities during times of crisis. But individual…

Through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program, the federal government charged community colleges across the country with two things: training adults who had lost their jobs so they could regain employment and providing the education needed for those still working to be able to move up career…

This toolkit is intended to help states create career pathways systems that integrate and expand partnerships between state human service agencies and postsecondary systems and institutions so that more people who want to train for a quality career can do so. Career pathways partnerships can help community colleges and human services work better…

Do tuition vouchers and cash subsidies promote educational or labor force outcomes for "non-traditional" students? I use a regression discontinuity design to estimate the impacts of a state aid program with an unobserved eligibility cutoff. Eligibility has no impact on degree completion for students with a preference for community…

Objective: An increasing number of states are adopting performance-based funding (PBF) systems for their public colleges, but there are concerns that PBF dissuades colleges from recruiting and enrolling students with a lower likelihood of success. Some states have attempted to address this concern by providing additional funds for successfully…

The rate of early childhood overweight and obesity in the United States has increased significantly over the last 30 years. The psychosocial risks of potential stigmatization and discrimination in an overweight child can cause low-esteem and/or reduced school performance. Overweight and obese children also face the increased health risks…

Parent, school, and community engagement is widely established as a collaborative strategy to improve the school experience and educational outcomes for children and youth (Epstein & Sanders, 2006; SEDL, 2013; Weiss, Lopez, & Rosenberg, 2011; Barr & Saltmarsh, 2014). Consistent with this viewpoint, the Houston Independent School…