In late 2020, Nevada community colleges participated in a national study of community college workforce education. Nevada was one of 14 states where education authorities volunteered to encourage colleges to respond early enough in 2020 to receive preliminary statewide results in January 2021. This brief compares Nevada to the 14 states in this…

The growth of the public discourse on college completion and student debt has pushed policymakers and institutional leaders to implement a variety of policies aimed at incentivizing student completion. This article examines state-adopted excess credit hour (ECH) policies on student completion and median debt outcomes. Using a quasi-experimental…

Earning college credit in high school matters to students and parents. Students who earn college credits by taking a college-level course while in high school are more likely to enter college and succeed. Through these experiences, students become familiar with college expectations, academic behaviors, and habits of mind; get a head start on…

In spite of the well-paying, in-demand jobs that many STEM degrees can lead to, just 18 percent of the 1.9 million bachelor's degrees awarded in the U.S. in 2015-16 (the most recent data available) were in STEM subject areas.3 Given that about 5 percent of workers with a non-STEM undergraduate degree work in a STEM field, a large proportion of a…

Higher education often operates under old rules -- rules that continue despite an increasingly diverse student population and improved understanding of human behavior and choice. Under these old rules, fewer than half of students graduate on time, if at all, and troubling equity gaps exist based on income, race, and ethnicity. It is time for new…

From 2008 to 2011, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) worked with six states (Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, and South Dakota) to improve policies and practices to increase adult degree completion as a way to raise overall state educational attainment levels. With funding from Lumina Foundation,…

A ready adult (or reentry) concierge is a single-point of contact at a college or university who helps returning adult students navigate the application, enrollment, and registration processes and overcome barriers to college success. To better understand the barriers faced by students in the reenrollment process and how the Concierge Model can…

The basic currency of higher education--the credit hour--represents the root of many problems plaguing America's higher education system: the practice of measuring time rather than learning. "Cracking the Credit Hour" traces the history of this time-based unit, from the days of Andrew Carnegie to recent federal efforts to define a credit…

This article reports findings from an impact study of a 2-year postsecondary academic program offered in state prisons. Outcomes examined for participants during their 1st year of participation include performance on a standardized test of critical thinking skills, credit acquisition, achievement motivation, educational aspirations, personal…

The Breaking Through (BT) initiative promotes an expanded and enhanced role for community colleges in providing access to college for low-skilled adults. BT is uniquely important in its systematic integration of adult education, developmental/remedial education, professional-technical education (PTE), and career planning and preparation in…

Designed for students planning to transfer within the University of Nevada (UN) System, this guide provides general information and specific data on the transfer status of courses offered by the four community colleges in the system. Introductory material provides information on UN admissions, transfer courses, course numbering, curriculum…

Nevada's policies on student transfer from the community colleges to the universities in the University of Nevada System (UNS) are codified in this statement. After section 1 outlines the assumptions underlying the state policy, section 2 presents the UNS Articulation Board's role with respect to policy recommendations, the establishment of task…

Changes in tuition and fee levels at public institutions from academic year 1981-82 to 1982-83 are reviewed, with specific state-by-state, institution-by-institution data provided for the three previous years. The states included are Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and…

This guide is designed to assist students who plan to transfer between the community colleges and universities comprising the University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN). The opening section of the guide provides general information on transfer, including admission to programs for Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, other…

Since the results of a survey indicated that for the 1971-72 school year, forty-nine vocational teachers in the Nevada secondary school system had less than a baccalaureate degree, and that a large percentage of them had very little assistance in developing and/or learning teaching skills (although they were well prepared in their speciality), an…