To provide fast and direct economic aid to the American people negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress enacted a series of laws and injected about $4.6 trillion into the U.S. economy. Of this amount, over $75 billion was directed to institutions of higher education through the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Funds. This…

Pursuant to California Education Code provisions 17201(i)(1)(B)(C), 17203.5, and 66014.6, the California Community Colleges Student Housing 2024 report provides the following information: (1) the 2024 Annual Progress on California Community Colleges Affordable Student Housing; (2) the 2024 California Community Colleges Housing Insecurity; and (3)…

Objective: This article analyzes the implementation of two state grant programs in Tennessee aimed at improving the quality of in-demand postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) programming at community and technical colleges. We use insights from our findings to propose a conceptual framework for understanding how external funding can…

In order to assist higher education institutions and their students during the pandemic, the federal government established the Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund, which directed over $75 billion to institutions of higher education--including nearly $25 billion to community colleges--over a three-year period. The U.S. Department of…

The most recent data on tuition, appropriations, and state grant aid present an economic outlook that appears favorable in the West. Tuition rates remained relatively flat for the past decade, total state funding to higher education increased across the region in the past year, and state grant aid continued to increase since 2010-11. Despite these…

This study explores whether the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Program, the largest federal investment in community colleges in this nation's history, expanded and improved vocational training programs. We find that, on average, the completion of credentials in career-technical fields increased at…

In December 2023, TICAS published new research on the College Affordability Gap--the gap between students' total cost of attendance and non-loan aid available to them--in California, Michigan, and New York, with a focus on students eligible for Pell Grants. Our new report builds on this research with data from nine additional states (Colorado,…

The Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEER) Fund had two main purposes: (1) to ensure that colleges could continue to provide education to students in the wake of the pandemic and (2) to provide emergency financial assistance through colleges directly to students. Four years after the onset of the pandemic, this ARCC Network brief uses college…

Immigrant students are served in adult basic education programs across the country. This includes internationally trained professionals who often face nonrecognition of their foreign credentials and experience, leading to underemployment and a devaluation of skills. This article explores this issue from the perspective of a local program at…

Nebraska's constitution and state statutes require the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education (CCPE) to review the budget requests of the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska State College System, and the community colleges in light of specific criteria set forth in the statutes. The Commission also makes recommendations on major…

TICAS partnered with higher education researcher Dr. Donald E. Heller to examine the "affordability gap" that students are facing when paying for college. The report uses federal data to determine the so-called "college affordability gap" in three states--California, Michigan, and New York--with a focus on students who are…

The article is an analysis which focuses on the years after the Great Recession, to show the interplay between federal and state policies. The first year after American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) federal stimulus funds ended, Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, coincided with new federal Pell Grant eligibility restrictions. State appropriations for…

California's public higher education system has catapulted the state into global leadership such that, the state is the 5th largest economy in the world today. A bachelor's degree, in particular, provides unrivaled economic and health benefits for the individual earning the degree and for the state. To better understand how California's public…

The purpose of this evaluation was to provide descriptive feedback to assist coordinators of the Alabama Community College System's (ACCS) outcome-based funding (OBF) model in conducting a formative needs assessment. Employing a quasi-experimental design, this evaluation utilized both the CIPP decision-oriented and Stake's participant-oriented…

Using a critical lens, this article discusses some of the most common recommendations for human resource and community college leaders on how to respond to budget cuts to student affairs and support services at community colleges. Student affairs and support services are often the first to experience budget cuts in higher education, yet little is…