What works to help community college students progress academically? This brief synthesizes 20 years of rigorous research by MDRC, presenting new evidence about key attributes of community college interventions that are positively related to larger impacts on students' academic progress. Findings: Findings are based on a synthesis of evidence from…

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly reduced the college enrollment rate for students during the Fall 2020 semester. National data show that although enrollment of new students declined overall, it varied substantially by institution type and student characteristics. What national data do "not" reveal is how certain communities with already…

In "Delivering Promise," award-winning scholar of higher education Xueli Wang tells a story of educational change and innovation that has and continues to occur at countless campuses of community and technical colleges. Wang weaves together a careful account of how faculty, staff, administrators, institutional researchers, and college…

Research for Action (RFA) in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin is engaged in a five-year mixed-methods study of the reforms associated with California AB 705. Over the course of the study, our team will assess the implementation, impact, and cost effectiveness of reforms associated with the law. This report first offers a…

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…

The disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic have both short- and long-term repercussions on higher education. To crystallize these impacts in a sector that was particularly vulnerable to the economic effects of the pandemic, this mixed-methods study explores the intersection of international education and community college responses to the pandemic.…

Due to the low success of traditional, postsecondary remediation mathematics, The Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative First in the World Grant (MMRI-FITW) sought to develop and implement a statistics pathway in 2- and 4-year institutions as an alternative to traditional algebra-based math, to accelerate developmental mathematics students'…

In Fall 2020, the VCCS [Virginia Community College System] will begin implementing the Direct Enrollment Pilot, building upon lessons learned in prior reforms and successes of reforms in other states. In the new corequisite model of developmental education, students at the margins of college preparation are placed directly into the college…

Community colleges have been seen as a gateway into higher education and social mobility. Matriculation of students into higher education has been critical to guiding and directing the rest of their experience as a student. Not many scholars have examined the experiences of students with assessment and placement during matriculation at community…

This chapter aims to extend conversations around educational equity by emphasizing the role of community college contexts as a mediator between policy reform and student experience. Narratives of Tennessee (TN) Reconnect Grant recipients indicate that community college contexts related to advising and student support services and enrollment,…

Assembly Bill 705 (AB705) is one of the most ambitious reforms in California higher education to date, as it directs all community colleges in the state to maximize the number of students completing transfer-level math and English courses in one year's time. This report describes outcomes in the Los Angeles Community College District after Fall…

The book analyses and evaluates several key community college reform programs that emerged after the Recession of 2008 and as a result of major initiatives in California, New York, Tennessee, Florida, Connecticut and Wisconsin. Because of the economic downturn in the early 21st Century, an already eroding financial base for public higher education…

In 2014, developmental education became optional for many college students in Florida, regardless of prior academic preparation. This study investigated first-semester math course enrollment patterns for underprepared first-time-in-college (FTIC) students who would have previously been required to take developmental math and the passing rates for…

In 2014, developmental education became optional for many college students in Florida, regardless of prior academic preparation. This study investigated first-semester math course enrollment patterns for underprepared first-time-in-college (FTIC) students who would have previously been required to take developmental math and the passing rates for…

Academic underpreparedness is an issue for many first-time-in-college students, particularly those entering community colleges. Whereas many underprepared students enroll in developmental education, research has indicated that traditional remediation may not increase students' chances for success. Therefore, states and colleges have begun to…