Historically, colleges have used standardized testing to determine whether a student is ready for college-level work or requires developmental courses first, but this method has been criticized as inaccurate. To obtain more accurate placements, nearly three-quarters of colleges now use multiple measures assessment (MMA) systems. These systems…

This causal comparative study examined group differences in college readiness using the "Redefining Ready" college readiness indicators for rural community college students. Additional analysis focused on evidence supporting a high school experience, or combination of high school experiences, that most accurately correlates with academic…

Community colleges are Black males' primary pathway to higher education. Less than a third of Black males, however, are likely to attain a certificate or degree within 6 years. Although no single intervention can formally improve their academic trajectory, interventions absent of culturally and gender-specific approaches and institutional…

This longitudinal study of 17,455 students, the majority from underrepresented groups, investigated leaks in the vertical transfer pipeline from associate's-degree program entry to bachelor's-degree receipt. Investigated were both the size of the leaks and some associated variables. Pipeline progress examinations included quantification of early…

This study examined overall success and creativity in students taking STEM courses at a Midwestern community college. There were four hypotheses in this study. The first was that STEM majors who had taken one or more fine arts courses would report a higher GPA than STEM majors who have not taken fine arts courses. The second was that there would…

As the Latino population continues to rise, so does the need for education among Latinas with dependents within the community. Previous researchers have shown that Latinas have low college completion rates, which decreases their access to a better economic future (housing, health, living conditions). Thus, there is a pressing need to increase the…

Objective: Despite community colleges accounting for 34% of all undergraduate enrollment, research on substance-use patterns among community college students is limited. Community college students may engage in substance use differently than their 4-year university counterparts due to differences in psychosocial factors and decreased availability…

Objective: Superiority experiments supply a critical lens to probe higher education interventions because they can dismantle the collective effect of a program and identify the relative contribution of the core components. However, such lines of inquiry are generally absent in higher education literature. We draw on experimental data to probe the…

This SAT® validity study focuses on SAT relationships with student outcomes in career and technical education (CTE) programs at two-year postsecondary institutions. This study draws upon two samples, one with 14,357 students initially enrolled at 55 two-year institutions and another with 46,098 students initially enrolled at 580 institutions.…

Community colleges have an important, civic mission to serve the educational needs of the public. Often, community colleges will serve a disproportionate number of students belonging to ethnic minority groups and students of lower socioeconomic status (Cross & Atinde, 2015). Unfortunately, community college students experience lower levels of…

Recent insights have underscored the role of context in cultivating intelligence mindsets' influence on students' academic outcomes. Psychological affordances of the social context may encourage an adaptive perspective (i.e., growth mindset). Expanding this novel area of investigation, we examined how students' sense of belonging, as an affordance…

To understand how to best support Latino male community college students, we used the Socio-Ecological Outcomes (SEO) model to examine factors associated with their achievement and college satisfaction. Specifically, we leveraged data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and situated our study in developmental…

Purpose: This study explores the challenges facing FGCSs and seeks to provide strategies, opportunities, and novel and actionable insights for increasing retention and graduation rates among FGCSs in community colleges during and post the COVID-19 pandemic period. The study further identifies whether and how the COVID-19 pandemic magnified these…

Implementation of AB 705 in fall 2019 required California community colleges to use high school grade point average (HSGPA) as the main measure of placement and maximize the likelihood of students being placed into transfer-level English and math courses. Since that time, research has shown that with the vast increase in access to transfer-level…

For many Latinx community college students, grades are a key indicator of academic success and therefore research in non-cognitive factors such as grit and growth mindset is needed. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine if, and to what extent, there is a relationship between grit and growth mindset of Latinx…