As a result of systemic barriers, undocumented immigrants are more likely to enroll in community colleges and to enter these institutions with higher prior academic achievement than their peers. I explore the potential spillover benefits of this hyperselection on other students using data from a large community college system and two…

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…

Four years after the onset of COVID-19, enrollment and persistence at community colleges is rebounding, although still not to prepandemic levels. Community college leaders report that a key strategy in encouraging enrollment and persistence is a drive toward more flexibility in course formats, including modes of delivery modality, materials, and…

California is home to the fifth-largest population of Black people in the United States, approximately 2.8 million individuals. However, when Black Californians seek access to the state's colleges and universities, they face undue bureaucratic and financial barriers. This Equity Alert explores a legislative proposal to create a California…

Recent policy changes like AB 705 and 1705 have drastically changed curriculum, course offerings, and placement practices in community college ESL departments across California (Rodriguez, et al., 2022; Shaw, et al., 2018). Though many large-scale studies have examined transfer, completion and throughput rates (David & Kanno, 2021; Hayward, et…

The ever-changing landscape of higher education presents enrollment management (EM) professionals with challenges related to workload, staff morale, conflicting values, staff turnover, and student satisfaction. As higher education confronts the reality of today's enrollment climate, it is time to consider how organizational cultures impact staff…

California's public higher education institutions have been crucial in positioning the state as the 5th largest economy in the world. The economic benefits of higher education include higher annual wages, lifetime earnings, and wealth accumulation for individuals, as well as higher tax revenues and lower social program costs for the state. College…

In March of 2020, the global pandemic changed nearly every aspect of daily life around the world. Colleges and universities were forced to close their physical facilities and deliver both instruction and support services online, and higher education enrollment across the country declined. In the California State University (CSU) system, following…

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…

Some high school seniors who plan to attend college in the fall following graduation do not enroll. This phenomenon, known as summer melt, contributes to lower educational attainment, particularly among low-income students. We extend the literature on summer melt in two ways. First, we show that melt estimates can be sensitive to measurement…

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) annual survey of tuition and fees collects the resident and nonresident tuition and fees at public two- and four-year institutions in the WICHE region for undergraduate and graduate students. WICHE administered the most recent survey to state higher education executive offices, system…

Noncognitive constructs such as self-efficacy, social awareness, and academic engagement are widely acknowledged as critical components of human capital, but systematic data collection on such skills in school systems is complicated by conceptual ambiguities, measurement challenges and resource constraints. This study addresses this issue by…

High school student participation in dual enrollment--a key strategy for increasing equitable access to postsecondary education and improving readiness for college--has been on the rise in California in recent years. Despite the overall increase in participation, however, large gaps between racial/ethnic subgroups persist. Also of concern, English…

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