As employers struggle to fill 9.5 million vacant positions with only 6.5 million workers available across the United States, the role of community colleges becomes critical in educating workers. Open-door access and lower-tuition costs make community college an essential resource for people to access higher education; however, research shows the…

This study describes course withdrawal behaviors in the Texas public higher education institutions and examines the predictors of course withdrawal by using statewide administrative datasets. The findings showed that two-thirds of the college students in the sample withdrew from at least one course, highlighting course withdrawal as a prevalent…

As community colleges create or enhance their online learning programs, campus leaders must find ways to make these experiences equitable for all students, so that everyone has a fair chance at success. Colleges are using a wide array of innovative strategies to do this. These methods include designing online courses with inclusion in mind,…

The efficacy of the CTE curriculum and program delivery can be affected by both internal and external factors. In an effort for community colleges to improve graduation and retention rates, institutions are developing enrollment and retention strategies that involve scheduling options. The purpose of this causal-comparative quantitative study was…

Developmental education (dev-ed) aims to help students acquire knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in college-level coursework. The traditional prerequisite approach to postsecondary dev-ed--where students take remedial courses that do not count toward a credential--appears to stymie progress toward a degree. At community colleges across the…

Higher education persistence and retention rates have been scrutinized more than ever before, at both the state and national levels. Student success and completion rates are central to funding formulas, and this is specifically true for community colleges in Texas. This study examined the role of library instruction on community college student…

Following up on an individual-level randomized controlled trial of a Dana Center Math Pathways (DCMP) model, this study assessed longer-term impacts on students' math completion, academic progress, and academic attainment. The version of the DCMP that was assessed in this study diversified the developmental and college-level math course content…

To better understand the challenges and opportunities facing community colleges that want to expand apprenticeship opportunities to their students, New America conducted a year-long study. We created an advisory committee to guide this work and spoke to apprenticeship, workforce development, and community college leaders about the community…

There is a growing perception in society that people are losing faith in the value of a college education (Craig, 2015; Hart Research Associates, 2018). Declining enrollments at higher education institutions for more than a decade support this assertion (NCH Research Center, 2021). To remain relevant as an industry, higher education institutions…

Entrepreneurship education (EE) is a hot topic and has gained the attention and interest of scholars in the United States and globally. Despite the growth of EE, scholars have been marginalizing the impact of EE at the community college level and there is a dearth of studies in this area (Liguori et al. 2019; Mars & Ginter 2012). Therefore, I…

Criminal justice scholars and practitioners have sought to identify strategies to increase and improve diversity in police agencies since the 1960s Civil Rights era. Moreover, the difficulties recruiting racial and ethnic minority police officers indicated there is distrust and fear of the police, which includes police culture/practices that…

Establishing early academic momentum via credit accumulation is strongly associated with community college student success. Using data from one of the nation's largest and most racially diverse community college systems, our quasi-experimental study examined how different first-semester credit loads influenced persistence. For part-time students…

This quantitative study examined the comparative factors of academic success between ECHS students (ECHS) and non-ECHS traditional college students, and utilized secondary data from National Student Clearinghouse and an East Texas community college. The enrollment of students in ECHS and non-ECHS traditional college students guided the study. The…

This study explored student perceptions regarding persistence in online coursework at the community college level. Using a case study design and thematic analysis, the researcher conducted focus group interviews and then identified themes related to the academic, economic, and social supports and barriers that impacted student persistence at one…

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the lived experiences of seven Mexican American community college philosophy students in their journeys to becoming philosophers in the U.S.-Mexico border, between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. Philosophy is one of the least diverse academic fields in the United…