As higher education institutions across Colorado continue to address the impact of COVID19 on enrollment and identify practices that promote student success and institutional sustainability, many are focusing their attention on the enrollment of adult learners. The Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) has actively engaged in building…

"Collective impact" is a new place-based model of educational and social intervention that aims to shift responsibility for improvement in outcomes from individual organizations to entire systems that affect the lives of people in a particular location. CCRC's "Corridors of College Success Series" provides insights into…

The Hispanic-Serving Community Colleges STEM Pipelines (HSCC-STEM) study is a research project that explores the transitions to and through Hispanic-serving two-year institutions for underrepresented minoritized STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) students. This brief uncovers the most viable HSCC STEM pathways for Latinx…

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the highest unemployment that the U.S. has seen since the Great Depression, with particularly heavy job losses for Black, Hispanic, and Native American workers. In this set of studies commissioned by Lumina Foundation, the authors examine actions that states and community colleges can take to address the needs of…

As the nation works toward higher postsecondary attainment goals, states are looking into ways to increase successful degree completion for students in higher education. A broad consensus between states, philanthropic interests, and the business and labor communities is that higher attainment rates are required to meet the workforce demands of the…

With their "open door" admissions policies and lower tuition, community colleges offer a gateway to higher education for millions of American students. Indeed, students who enter higher education through community colleges are much more likely than those who start at four-year institutions to be low-income or the first in their family to…

Many states are passing "free" college plans, and policymakers at both the state and federal level continue to debate the merits of national "free college" or "debt-free college" proposals, also known as Promise programs. Both federal and state "free" college proposals are geared toward a policy objective of…

Increased veteran enrollment in universities warrants the examination of the challenges of students transitioning on campus. In this phenomenological, mixed methods study incorporating reverse culture shock theory and student engagement, four research questions are explored. "Do current Colorado veteran residents obtain degrees at the same…

"ED 2.0" is a second generation of civic communities all aimed at facilitating greater levels of economic prosperity through innovation, collaboration, and the linking and leveraging of resources. This report examines the "ED 2.0" model. It briefly describes some of the tools and applications used for economic transformation…

As part of the Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA) initiative, the Carsey Institute has been investigating broad trends between rural community types, including the education level of residents and their parents. Since 2007, Carsey researchers have conducted over 17,000 telephone surveys with randomly selected adult Americans from…

The goal of the Hispanic Agenda is to enhance the quality of life for Colorado Hispanics and all other Coloradans. Responsibility for the program rests with the Hispanic community and leadership. The Hispanic Agenda Steering Committee began work in January 1986 to develop the structure and process for the Agenda. Program components, identified…

Reports results of a statewide survey of student intentions administered to a sample of 3,219 community college students. A positive relationship was found between the number of credits completed and the number of intention shifts, and a negative relationship was found between the number of credits completed and perceptions of goal attainment.…

This report discusses measures taken in response to Colorado Senate Bill 92-155, which requests institutions of higher education in the state to ensure that students have the opportunity and needed assistance to complete degrees in a reasonable time. The report also examines degree completion times at Colorado colleges and universities, and…

This study examines the Lao Hmong, an Indochinese refugee group that has resettled in the Denver-Boulder, Colorado, area. Characteristics examined are the following: (1) migration; (2) location; (3) housing; (4) acculturation; and (5) life satisfaction. An extensive literature review discusses the history, ethnography, and culture of the Hmong in…