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…

In December 2023, TICAS published new research on the College Affordability Gap--the gap between students' total cost of attendance and non-loan aid available to them--in California, Michigan, and New York, with a focus on students eligible for Pell Grants. Our new report builds on this research with data from nine additional states (Colorado,…

As anti-Black ideologies continue to prevail in Asian American communities, this autoethnography explores how two Southeast Asian American (SEAA) scholar-activists and community organizers contended with anti-Blackness, racism, and social justice research in their cross-racial and cross-ethnic solidarity community-organizing and educational…

Simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) entails significant changes to the FAFSA and the methodology for determining eligibility for federal financial aid for the 2024-25 academic year. The changes to the FAFSA form that were mandated by the Simplification Act delayed implementation and shifted the timeline for…

Institutional missions of colleges and universities are increasingly focused on community partnerships: embracing a commitment to conducting research with, rather than simply about, communities. As researchers who have partnered with communities know well, these relationships depend upon both material and informational resources that are not…

As community members continue to experience racial trauma at both individual and community levels, our Extension team responded by adapting an anti-racism leadership training program to be more trauma-informed. Our team designed a tool using Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's trauma-informed principles to support public…

This report presents an approach to evaluating networked improvement communities (NICs) and describes the tools used to apply the approach to a formative evaluation of the Minnesota Alternative Learning Center Networked Improvement Community (Minnesota ALC NIC). In fall 2019 leaders at the Minnesota Department of Education requested support from…

The EPICS Program was created in 1995 with the dual purposes of improving engineering education and addressing compelling needs within our communities. The model broke with many traditional academic traditions, involving students in multidisciplinary teams of students from first-year to fourth years for multiple semesters or even years on projects…

In this paper, we address the achievements to date and the learnings from the development and ten-year implementation of the Iron Range Engineering (IRE) program while articulating its future directions. IRE uses research-based instructional strategies to implement a project-based learning (PBL) curriculum where authentic design sits at the heart…

Community colleges and open-access, four-year colleges admit nearly everyone who applies and enroll students with a wide range of skills. Many of these colleges run developmental education programs for students who they determine are underprepared for college-level courses. More than two-thirds of community college students are assigned to…

This report explores the Annie E. Casey Foundation's Deep-End Initiative, which is helping juvenile justice jurisdictions safely and significantly reduce youth confinement -- especially for young people of color. In America today, youth of color are consistently over-represented in courtrooms and detention centers, youth prisons and other…

The focus of each Technology Solutions for Adult Basic Skills Challenges column begins with a common challenge facing adult basic skills practitioners. This article examines a technology solution to two large and related challenges: student engagement and student persistence, which, from a program or school perspective, is often described as…

This chapter explores ways that the civic and workforce missions of community colleges might be better integrated in practice, using Minneapolis Community and Technical College as an example.

The close-knit, personal nature of small rural communities results in school and community operating as a single integrated social structure. Useful rural school improvement strategies must, therefore, address needs that are recognized by both the local school and the community and must operate in a style congruent with the local setting. Although…

Michigan's public colleges and universities have become steadily less affordable over the past two decades, mirroring a national trend where state funding of public higher education has not kept pace with costs, leading to increased tuition and fees. States continually assess their higher education tuition and other policies in comparison to their…