Diverse national and local policies represent efforts to guarantee inclusive and equitable quality education and provide lifelong learning for all (SDG4). Their effects have the potential to alter local access to education. There has been a lot of research on the factors that led certain universities to embrace distance learning programs in their…

This qualitative multiple-case study provides insight into the experiences of English language learners (ELLs) attending classes in a community college setting. Community colleges in the US play a significant role in the access to higher education for ELLs, a sizable student population that includes US high school graduates, adult immigrants,…

Evidence suggests that there is a gap for underserved populations in health sciences. Through online education, access to learning opportunities is growing in health informatics, biotechnology, health administration, and health education. However, online education can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection from the educational community.…

The Sustainable Development Goals link access to higher education, particularly for non-traditional populations, as a way to fight poverty and ensure prosperity. This article examines the experiences of several under-researched categories of non-traditional students who attend Community Colleges and Technical Vocational Education and Training…

Meet4Music (M4M) is a low-threshold community music program based at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria, offering free participatory sessions to people from all social and cultural backgrounds, including students. The program allows attendees to experience an emerging field of music pedagogy and approach current challenges…

This qualitative study aims to improve accessibility and equity in digital spaces by identifying the prevalent mismatch between online course design, student culture, and its connection to instructional design for teacher preparation programs. Utilizing feminist theory, we explore the intersection between community, identity, and learning within…

This study directs attention to an oft-overlooked group of students in higher education: formerly incarcerated Black men (FIBM). Specifically, we aim to generate knowledge about how FIBM experience the college-going process to inform policy and practice aimed at broadening their participation and increasing their persistence. Two research…

Most community college (CC) students nationwide aspire to transfer from CC to a 4-year baccalaureate granting institution, yet most students who aspire to transfer never achieve this goal. Cross-enrollment, facilitated enrollment in a course at a four-year college while simultaneously enrolled in classes at a CC, is one policy that may increase…

With tuition increasing at a faster rate than inflation, many college students depend on grants to access education. The largest of these, the federally funded Pell Grant, subsidizes over 30 billion a year worth of tuition for eligible students (Cardona, 2023) yet no longer meets its goal of covering 75% percent of tuition costs. While the…

The Keystone Education Yields Success (KEYS) program is a welfare-to-work program in Pennsylvania meant to promote financial independence through education. Across the community colleges in the state of Pennsylvania, the KEYS program has often allowed financially disadvantaged students to succeed on par with - and often surpass - their non-KEYS…

This qualitative case study investigates the impact of the universal design for learning (UDL) framework paired with multiple educational technologies on student engagement and sense of inclusion and belonging in the classroom. Research has indicated that a sense of belonging has a direct impact on success among undergraduate students. I saw…

Blind/partially blind people are underrepresented in post-secondary education and lack equitable opportunities to develop a sense of belonging. This study shares narratives of 28 blind/partially blind students from across Turtle Island (in what is colonially called Canada) using Teng et al.'s (2020) Belonging in Academia Model (BAM) as a…

This qualitative study examines Tennessee Promise students' (N = 60) perceptions of supports and resources during their first year of college. Students' reflections suggest that they hold expectations for support from the state beyond scholarship dollars, and that other actors, including faculty, staff, parents, and the state's nonprofit partner,…

Before the process starts for African-American students to choose a higher education institution, the students are faced with challenges in high school and in the college search phase that either help or stunt their college preparedness, and therefore impact their college choice. The lack of access, knowledge, and readiness are all barriers that…

While there is a significant body of educational literature addressing the character and needs of rural communities in the Appalachian and southern regions of the US, there is a need for a better understanding of rural communities outside of this region. Existing literature focused on US rurality revolves around four main themes: the rural…