Student parents may feel invisible on college campuses, especially student mothers, who often feel ignored and overlooked when institutional policies and practices are not tailored to their needs and challenges. These students are especially vulnerable to withdrawing from college, even in institutional contexts that boast a positive and welcoming…

In 2019, twenty community colleges joined Strengthening Guided Pathways and Career Success by Ensuring Students Are Learning, a two-year project led by the American Association of Colleges and Universities. The project draws on the guided pathways framework to support institutions as they (1) map academic pathways and degree programs to student…

Access to sexual and reproductive health care and information can affect college students' ability to succeed in higher education. Yet community colleges often do not consider students' reproductive health access when considering how to promote their academic success. This report summarizes findings from original research conducted by the…

In this monumental time of social change, community college news and reports need to be at the forefront of all professionals working in higher education- not just those who work in these unique institutions. Why? There are several reasons, each of which become more apparent while flipping through the pages of Inside Higher Ed's special report…

Canada ranks first by a substantial margin among OECD member countries in the proportion of the adult population whose highest level of educational attainment is the completion of a programme of short-cycle tertiary education. Short-cycle tertiary education (SCTE) refers to the types of programmes typically offered by community colleges and…

In response to the significant and still growing number of college students experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in California, the State Legislature appropriated $9 million in the 2019-2020 State Budget for ongoing funding to provide housing services to students. Per section 9795 of the statute, colleges, in partnership with local…

With a looming enrollment crisis, colleges must explore new efforts for developing strategic and sustainable partnerships that support institutional advancement. As such, Kent State University (KSU) partnered with three regional, two-year institutions developing high-impact pathways to expand upon the transfer student experience and success rates.…

For decades, remediation has kept predominantly Black and Latinx students in a detrimental cycle of spending tuition on coursework that does not count as a credit toward transferring or earning degrees. California Assembly Bill 705 was designed to tackle the inequitable challenges of remedial education at California's Community Colleges. However,…

Community college student affairs and services units are foundation to students' academic goals and success. As such, these professionals are often central to the critical initiatives and trends developing throughout 2-year institutions to support the overarching goals of student success. For the most part, these initiatives originated during…

Food and housing insecurities are serious challenges confronting community college students. This chapter reviews the evidence on prevalence and correlates of basic needs insecurity and discusses institutional actions to support students.

There is documented need for California to produce more bachelor's degree holders. Broad agreement exists that increasing community college transfer is an essential strategy for achieving this critical goal, while at the same time closing equity gaps and promoting mobility for residents of a state plagued with the nation's highest cost of living.…

The following report summarizes critical lessons learned from case studies conducted by ATD examining how adaptive courseware is implemented at public community colleges as well as how courseware is used in particular disciplines to better serve students. The lessons learned represent the work of hundreds of faculty and staff, and administrators…

As the COVID-19 pandemic has proved, maintaining student financial wellness is key to keeping students enrolled. The Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) was administered a year and a half into the pandemic, during a time when vaccinations were allowing schools to return to in-person learning, but the pandemic was continuing to have a strong…

Our understanding of community college pathways to baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is remarkably incomplete, despite growing recognition of the sizeable role that community colleges stand to play in increasing the number of students who enter STEM baccalaureate programs, particularly underrepresented…

Community college is a gateway to postsecondary education for millions of college students in the United States yet only 13% of those intending to earn a bachelor's degree do so within six years of enrolling (Shapiro et al., 2017). The process of transferring from one postsecondary institution to another is fraught with structural, financial, and…