This article reports on the findings from the 2007 Community College Survey of Student Engagement. The survey determined the services that students need but are not receiving in their first four weeks of college. It finds that many new community-college students receive little or no attention from advisers in their first four weeks of class. The…

Student services in community colleges have an important role to play in meeting student needs and increasing retention rates. As an emerging community college in the state of Louisiana, South Louisiana Community College (SLCC) developed a program for at-risk students designed to be integrated throughout the institution. A comprehensive review of…

Foothill College in Los Altos, California and DeAnza College in California are two community colleges that provide higher education for international students. These colleges' commitment to provide education for international students has recently caused a controversial debate among the residents of California. Not all California residents are in…

Lumina Foundation for Education created the Dreamkeepers and Angel Fund Emergency Financial Aid Programs to assist community college students who are at risk of dropping out because of unexpected financial crises. Both programs are multiyear pilot projects that began in 2005 and are administered by Scholarship America and the American Indian…

In 2003, MDRC and a consortium of funders launched the Opening Doors demonstration to test reforms in six community colleges aimed at helping students stay in school and earn credentials. This report presents early results from the Opening Doors program at Lorain County Community College in Elyria, Ohio. The program provided intensive advising and…

Many students who first enroll in a community college express an interest in transfer and baccalaureate attainment. However, few actually attain the baccalaureate degree. Various risk factors have been shown to exert strong and significant effects on transfer and subsequent baccalaureate degree attainment, yet few studies have included the impact…

Recognizing the need to strengthen the community college pathway, the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance has undertaken an initiative on community colleges. Through its research, the Committee has noted three critical transition points for students who start at a community college and intend to obtain a bachelor's degree:…

At the University of Akron, the administration decided to segregate the students previously called "provisional" from the "regular" population. As an open-access institution, the university directly admits only approximately 15 percent of the students to a program of study. The vast majority of students start in University College and transfer to…

This scholarly paper describes and analyzes the role of career and technical education (CTE) in Iowa community colleges. Iowa's community colleges are doing a good job of responding to the changing workforce needs of the state and providing smooth career pathways. However, changes in the population and economy of the state will call for further…

Say the words "college student" to someone in the street and ask that person to describe the mental image the term generates. The image will likely be that of a recent high school graduate, a young, white, middle- or upper-income person pursuing a four-year degree on a residential campus. This image is inaccurate. students of color…

In this article, the author shares his experiences as a professor of English at Monroe Community College in New York. He compares teaching at a community college as something similar to transporting lost souls across the River Styx. He relates that the open door admissions policy practiced at his school has given him opportunities to reach out to…

It is a well-known but highly misunderstood fact that Black and Hispanic students who start out at community colleges are less likely to earn a bachelor's degree with six years than their White or Asian peers. In this article, the author discusses several factors that account for this trend: (1) Black and Hispanic students who start their…

The 2005 "Community College Survey of Student Engagement," entitled "Engaging Students, Challenging the Odds" reflects responses from 133,281 students attending 257 colleges in 38 states. It gathers objective and relevant data about students' experiences at their colleges and presents this data to community colleges so they can better understand…

This report presents a summary of findings from the Emerging Pathways project, which seeks to identify the diverse needs and characteristics of adult learners, understand patterns of enrollment in credit and non-credit-bearing courses and offer advice to postsecondary institutions and policymakers committed to adult learners' success. Among its…

This research report was written on the premise of devising an intervention module for wellness among at-risk community college students, which can enhance retention within the group. Barriers to retention cannot solely be eradicated by didactic remedial services of a core curriculum; there must be a dichotomy of intervention, which includes…