Since 2011, the Ontario provincial government has made significant investments into improving the efficiency of vertical transfer--from community colleges to university--within its post-secondary education system. During this period, local policy analysts have repeatedly emphasized the need to account for geography when developing strategies to…

This study examined the effect of specialized orientation courses on community college student academic achievement and retention. The study utilized a quantitative design and compared the outcomes of specialized orientation courses to a more generalized orientation course. Due to the lack of previous research, there was little to suggest either a…

In 2023, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office launched Vision 2030. This bold plan provides a foundation for transformational change to ensure institutions work for students and provide equitable access to future learners through college. By working collaboratively as a system to advance the Vision 2030 priorities, colleges are…

Through a gerontological lens, using grounded theory methods and both qualitative and quantitative data, we investigated the "off-time" enrollment of mid- and later-life (MLL) community college students (age 40+) to explore how their enrollment decisions and academic goals are situated in the timing and intersection of life events and…

The student retention behavior of stopping-out is widely misunderstood and yet very important in explaining community college student enrollment patterns. Stopping-out remains understudied in higher education literature as it is challenging to collect data from students who discontinued their enrollment, and since these students are not retained,…

The California Community College (CCC) system serves a large student body, diverse in backgrounds, experiences, and educational goals. The accompanying report uses data from the CCC system's records to measure variation in achievement across the state's Strong Workforce Regions. The report considers a range of achievement measures, including…

This dissertation consists of three chapters that study individual investment in human capital and the incidence of economic shocks. I use administrative data to answer these questions, developing and applying structural methods to analyze individual choices in combination with a careful consideration of research design. Chapter 1 studies the…

Academic advising has been described as the second-most important function in the community college (behind only instruction) toward helping students achieve their goals. Using interview data from 78 students and 33 advisors at one of the nation's largest and most racially diverse community college systems, our qualitative case study examined how…

Objective/Research Question: Community college graduation rates are typically quite low, and developmental mathematics enrollment and coursetaking patterns may constrain academic outcomes. To identify ways in which community college graduation rates may be improved, decision trees were utilized to examine the STEM coursetaking patterns of N =…

We investigate whether and how Achieve Atlanta's college scholarship and associated services impact college enrollment, persistence, and graduation among Atlanta Public School graduates experiencing low household income. Qualifying for the scholarship of up to $5,000 per year does not meaningfully change college enrollment among those near the…

The California Community College (CCC) system serves a large student body, diverse in backgrounds, experiences, and educational goals. This report uses data from the CCC system's records to measure variation in achievement across the state's Strong Workforce Regions. We consider a range of achievement measures, including initial enrollments,…