As part of its broader Student Parent Success Initiative, Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) conducted original research focusing specifically on Black single mother students. This report summarizes findings from 25 interviews IWPR conducted with Black single mother community college students, consisting of both students who were…

Community colleges have a long history of providing entrance to higher education to minority students who enroll in these institutions underprepared and deprived of basic needs. With limited resources, community college leaders are expected to assist students in academic pursuits. The Center for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (Center for EDI)…

College students across the nation are encountering stressors from a myriad of sources in addition to the typical stress of academics. These stressors come by way of financial, occupational, social, physical, emotional, environmental, and spiritual challenges in students' lives. While reported incidences of mental health needs among college…

The purpose of this study was to examine if community college students in differing learning communities had different perceptions of their career and academic needs and whether students in different learning communities perceived their career and academic advisor as meeting these needs (i.e. are they satisfied with their advising). In addition,…

In 2022, the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC conducted research to better understand the barriers experienced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs, California's cash assistance program for families with children. This brief highlights findings from the research about parenting students' experiences navigating…

Higher education is critical to the earnings potential and other outcomes for Black/African Americans and Hispanic/Latinx Americans (Carnavale & Strohl, 2013) who attend community college at higher rates than any other type of institution of higher education (CCRC, 2021). However, they graduate at lower rates than White and Asian students;…

The rising cost of tuition, coupled with the insufficiency of aid and income, has made it more likely for college students to face financial challenges. The result for too many students is food insecurity or the lack of reliable access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food. Although the issue of food insecurity is prevalent among…

Policymakers in Texas want to understand the funding levels necessary for community colleges to meet their promise of providing an affordable and accessible pathway to a postsecondary certificate or degree. This study was conducted to help these policymakers better understand the extent to which Texas community colleges had adequate funding to…

The Community College Academic and Student Support Ecosystems (CCASSE) project examines how academic and student support services at not-for-profit associate-degree granting colleges are organized, funded, and staffed in order to most effectively advance student success. Between February and November 2020, 37 chief academic officers, chief student…

Associate degrees and credentials in Information Technology (IT) have the potential to open up high-wage and high-opportunity labor market opportunities for learners. Yet structural barriers in access to and completion of these degrees and credentials continue to make it difficult for Black learners and workers to access and thrive in these…

In 2022, the Center for the Study of Social Policy and Project SPARC conducted research to better understand the barriers experienced by parenting students participating in CalWORKs, California's cash assistance program for families with children. This brief highlights findings from the research on parenting students' experiences meeting their…

Background: Community colleges are the primary door to higher education for students of color and those from low-income backgrounds (Bailey et al., 2015; Calcagno et al., 2008). To raise attainment and reduce inequalities in completion, colleges have adopted many student success initiatives--from first-year experience programming and basic needs…

Graduating from college can enhance one's life significantly, however Black and Latinx students may face significant barriers in this process. This a problematic concern at Lehigh Carbon Community College which is in the predominantly white area of the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. The local demographics have rapidly changed and so has the…

This dissertation explored what contributed to Southeast Asian students' persistence in an urban community college in the Midwest. A qualitative case study was used to reveal how Southeast Asian students perceived personal and educational experiences and how those experiences created an impact on their persistence. This project addressed the lack…

The purpose of this study was to determine the self-identified needs of first-generation, low income and/or students with learning or physical disabilities who participated in a TRIO Student Support Program (SSS) at a rural Texas community college. Student Retention and persistence in higher education have been topics of research for years. Tinto…