Two hundred and four students completed a web-based questionnaire distributed to a stratified sample of California community college students (n = 2,300) enrolled in hospitality management or related programs to assess the influence of community college personnel on students' degree aspirations and upward transfer of community college students to…

Background/Context: Sociologists of education have studied how community colleges' institutional authorities and organizational barriers stratify students' postsecondary aspirations. Notions of how students might diverge in their pursuits are less understood. This study builds on imagined futures and postsecondary aspiration literature to…

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,…

In dual enrollment programs, high school students can take college courses and earn both high school and college credit--but in the past, dual enrollment had been used mostly by high-achieving students. In 2016, the California Legislature passed a law that expanded access to students who had been underserved in higher education. The resulting…

This article examines transfer center practices at a historically vocational community college to understand how transfer to four-year institutions happens. By focusing on the transfer center, this study explores the practices that could support transfer goals in a vocational and technical environment. Drawing on concepts of organizational…

In Assembly Bill (AB) 705, assessment and placement practices in California Community Colleges (CCC) should maximize the probability that students who enter credit-bearing English as a second language (ESL) course sequences complete degree and transfer requirements in English within three years. The three-year timeframe begins when a student…

This article focuses on Latinx transfer inequity and the role of state policy in addressing barriers faced trying to move from community college to four-year institutions. A recently passed initiative in California, known as the Student Equity Policy, offers community colleges the opportunity to address transfer barriers for racial/ethnic students…

Dual enrollment, which allows high school students to take college courses and earn college credits, is an important way to expand educational opportunities, improve economic mobility, and meet California's workforce needs (Education Commission of the States 2019). However, historically it has been accessible only to high-achieving students taking…

These are the appendices for the report, "Improving College Access and Success through Dual Enrollment." Dual enrollment, which allows high school students to take college courses and earn college credits, is an important way to expand educational opportunities, improve economic mobility, and meet California's workforce needs (Education…

This paper reviews the literature on best practices to engage parents in order to equip them to support their children's higher education aspirations. Parents from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, in common with other parents, report that they want "the best" for their children's future. Getting a good education is a part of…

Guided by the frameworks of college-conocimiento and the cooling out function, this study examined the college choice process of Latina/o/x students who attended an under-resourced urban high school. Data for this study consisted of interviews with ten institutional agents, two oral history interviews with 34 Latina/o/x students, and observation…

This report aims to fill the gap in research on English as a Second Language (ESL) programs at California's community colleges and the effectiveness of reforms aimed at improving student success. A number of colleges have implemented curricular reforms in recent years--accelerating coursework, integrating skills courses, and the like. These…

High-impact educational practices can promote student involvement and learning outcomes, but are rarely tested in the community college setting--where involvement is a typical challenge to student success. For Family Child Care (FCC) providers, who tend to be older and overworked, higher-education training can be especially difficult. The present…

Extant research on scholarship programs provides foundational knowledge on student enrollment patterns, different types of programs and their students, and outcomes for scholarship recipients in different sectors of higher education. Despite this growing body of research, however, looming questions remain about the measurable impact of scholarship…

Drawing upon a sample of 13,025 students who attended the nine majority minority colleges of the Los Angeles Community College District, this study examined the interaction effects of the racial composition of the colleges on student persistence. Special attention was given to variables that paired students' race to the racial demography of the…