For the past 20 years, community colleges have struggled with employee retention and with finding qualified individuals for senior administrative roles. As the crisis continues, many community college employees are returning to the classroom to receive university-based education in order to move into those vacant roles. As they re-enter higher…

This study represents North Carolina community college student experience with food insecurity. Two-year students have a wide variety of challenges as they make their way to finishing a credential. One such challenge, hunger, has always been a component; awareness and discourse have not. The purpose of the research is to understand the narratives…

As the entry point into higher education for over half of the bachelor's degree earners, (Trapani & Hale, 2019), community colleges are positioned to have a positive impact of bringing a more diverse student group into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. However, the vertical transfer function from community…

Objective: To assess the COVID-19 pandemic's effects on college students' stress, life satisfaction, and college experiences and investigate sources of resilience. Participants: 1,042 students from 11 U.S. colleges and universities. Methods: Longitudinal study with surveys in winter 2018-2019 and fall 2021. Interviews with 54 survey respondents,…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) persons are largely invisible in historically Black post-secondary education research and discourse. To this end, LGBTQ students attending historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are often ignored and their voices are silenced, thus impacting their feelings of marginality and…

"My Progress is Our Progress" is a qualitative study that examines how first-generation Latinx students navigate their experiences at three North Carolina community colleges. The Latinx population has significantly increased in North Carolina but that has not translated into an increase in Latinx student enrollment in higher education.…

Background and purpose: Trans people of color experience health inequities related to their multiple marginalized identities. While historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) provide supportive learning environments for Black students, it is unclear if these protections extend to LGBTQ+ students. As trans youth experience barriers to…

Barriers and supports to nutrition education in the early childhood classroom are most often presented from in-service teachers' perspective. Little work has been done to understand pre-service early childhood educators' perceptions of barriers and supports before entering the classroom. The purpose of this study was to identify early childhood…

This qualitative case study aimed to understand the transfer student experience through the lens of gender and racial experiences of community college STEM transfer students. Additionally, this study examined the barriers that STEM transfers, notably low-and middleincome, female, and minorities, experienced and overcame along their upward…

This study examines how inequality manifested during the emergency remote COVID-19 transition in higher education. We use 35 in-depth interviews with college students, conducted virtually, in real-time, during spring 2020 lockdowns, to examine how the transition impacted their lives. Students in the sample from lower-income backgrounds reported…

This qualitative study was conducted to learn about the lived experiences of Indigenous youth during the transition to emergency remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight students at two schools in the Western part of Robeson County, North Carolina, told their stories. Tribal Critical Race Theory was used in this study as a lens to…

HBCUs are known for being enriched cultural institutions, expertly weaving curriculum, belongingness, career access, affordability and social justice. In key quantitative research that explored the income trajectory of HBCU students, it was determined that almost 70% of HBCU students experience upward mobility, resulting in placement in the…

Researchers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill teamed up with UnidosUS to explore whether and how debt-driven higher education system makes it difficult for students to finish a college program or degree. Recognizing the increased national attention to equity in higher education and the dearth of data focused on Latino students, the…

Community colleges serve as entryways to higher education and a sustainable future for tens of thousands of students in the United States each year and are designed to provide affordable access to education, particularly for lower-income individuals. Within the United States, postsecondary student completion is a significant issue in academia, and…

This study explored the interconnectedness of the transfer student experience and used it as a foundational framework to inform the administrative leadership on a North Carolina, midsized, historically Black college of the existing transfer students' experiences. This study focused on (a) how transfer students at a midsized historically black…