The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to understand the community college online instructors' and online students' perceptions of the underlying reasons for academic underachievement at a California community college. The study comprised eight online instructors and seven online students at a community college in California.…

With 1.8 million students, California Community Colleges (CCC) are often the primary point of access to higher education for low-income, Black, and Latino students. Given the role of community colleges in creating a strong pipeline of college graduates, improving transfer rates to four-year colleges has become an increasingly important policy…

In 2022, the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC conducted research to better understand the barriers experienced by parenting students in CalWORKs, California's cash assistance program for families with children. This brief highlights findings from the research on parenting students' experiences transferring to four-year…

Advocates for marginalized students have worked to understand the equity implications of public policy and its application on educational performance gaps. This study investigated equity policies in a southern California community college intervention program: the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS). EOPS is an equity program created…

Parenting students work hard every day to pursue their goals, often juggling work, classes, and caregiving responsibilities. Public systems and programs can provide critical support, but frequently create additional hurdles for parenting students and their families--especially those with low incomes. In 2022, the Center for the Study of Social…

A growing subset of the United States community college student population are students who are parents. Parenting students contend with dividing their time and attention between the demands of parenting responsibilities, other life tasks, while being a student -- forming an intricate web of external factors that create barriers to their…

Generation Z, individuals born between 1995 and 2010, is projected to soon be the first minority-majority generation in the United States. This generational cohort is attending colleges now and will continue to enter colleges for the next decade. Within the Generation Z population are a large group of the Latinx students who often struggle to meet…

California Community Colleges (CCC) are the largest post-secondary higher education systems in the nation, with an enrollment of over 2 million at a given year. They are also the most affordable and accessible for students after completing K-12 education. With California having the largest Latinx residents (39%), they overwhelmingly makeup 45% of…

This study describes students' experiences applying for and maintaining financial aid at a community college in Southern California. Through individual interviews and focus groups, we examined the interaction points between students, institutional actors, institutional policies, and state/federal policies. We theorize that interactions between…

This study explores the role of student support services in fostering persistence among Some College, No Credential (SCNC) students re-entering higher education, with a specific focus on community colleges in Southern California. As the number of SCNC students continues to rise, understanding the challenges and support systems available to this…

Adult learners in community college encounter barriers in a world that does not recognize their needs. This action research investigation explored the barriers adult learners faced in a community college in California and examined how targeted academic counseling interventions informed the students about essential supports and services available…

California community colleges are undergoing massive systemwide policy reform with the goal of transformational change that increases student success. Their open-access nature makes them the most accessible higher education system for historically underserved communities. As a result, community colleges serve as a gateway to higher education for…

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of students formally enrolled in a California community college promise program at Mountain View Community College, Lakeview Community College, Hillcrest Community College, and Ocean Valley Community College, each located in Southern California. The…

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented numerous challenges to students across the United States, particularly those who are parents enrolled in community colleges. California's community college system serves a diverse student population, including a significant number of non-traditional, working adults who are also parents. These students have faced…

The fastest-growing population of Latinx students across California Community Colleges calls for an analysis on institutional practices to ignite change and improve the overall educational achievements of this student population. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of first-generation Latinx students by employing the…