Women and students of minority race/ethnicity continue to be underrepresented in many science and engineering fields. Access to special programs, mentors, and internships may influence awareness, intention, and persistence in science and engineering. This dissertation investigates the experiences, beliefs, and career intentions of undergraduate…

Veterans college student's mental health has become an important topic in higher education. It has been well documented that veterans enter college and universities coping with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This study addressed the problem of retaining women veterans coping with PTSD while enrolled in two-year community colleges. The…

Two years ago, Community College Research Center (CCRC) published a guide to help college leaders understand the costs involved in implementing guided pathways reforms. The guide was based on research at six community colleges, but only one of these was a smaller college. Small colleges lack economies of scale that can generate revenue to support…

The COVID-19 Transfer, Mobility, and Progress report series aims to identify the ways in which the pandemic is changing transfer pathways across higher education. The pandemic's impacts on transfer enrollment shifted as the pandemic progressed, with transfer pathways and student groups showing diverging patterns over time. As the ninth issue in…

This study focused on the policy impact of SB 1456 (2012) on students enrolled in rural community colleges in California. SB 1456 (2012) was signed into law with the intent to increase student success rates that ultimately resulted in the completion of educational goals for students in California Community Colleges (CCC). In order to examine the…

Over the last decade, community colleges in Tennessee have reimagined remediation. More than half of first-time students at Tennessee community colleges require remediation upon enrolling. Colleges provide these students with "learning support" in key gateway courses. To meet the needs of each student, Tennessee community colleges have…

The closure of equity gaps is a foundational component of the work of Tennessee community colleges. According to the Tennessee Board of Regents' (TBR) equity policy, this commitment means "ensuring that each student has access to a high-quality education and that each student receives what they need to be successful through the intentional…

The goal of the Texas Reverse Transfer Initiative (TRTI) was the development of low-cost, scalable, and sustainable systems and procedures for reverse transfer. Reverse transfer occurs when universities monitor transfer students' semester credit hour (SCH) accumulation and send their transcripts back to the community college students previously…

W.S. 21-18-202 (h)(iii) mandates that the Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) develop performance benchmarks, outcome measures and other performance indicators which serve as the basis for annual reporting to the legislature and the governor. The annual reporting must include, but is not limited to, the following measures: (1) student goal…

For more than 25 years, thousands of colleges and universities have used the Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) Satisfaction-Priorities Surveys to assess their students, strengthen the student experience, increase student success and completion, and prioritize campus planning initiatives. The surveys are valued so highly because they reveal where…

Diversifying the STEM workforce is a national priority, yet white males continue to dominate the ranks of professional scientists and engineers in the United States. This is partly due to disparities in academic success for women and minoritized students in prerequisite introductory STEM courses, leading to higher attrition from B.S. degree…

As part of my dissertation, I designed and conducted a study that examined the portrayal of community colleges in the media. Previous studies had consisted primarily of content analysis methodology, and as such, they failed to examine the influence these media portrayals had on students' intent to enroll in community colleges. In addition to…

While the Pell Grant covers a substantial proportion of college tuition for low-income students, it has covered only two full-time semesters per year and has not included any support for summer courses through most of its history. As research has shown that continuous enrollment throughout the year increases college persistence and completion, the…

This dissertation includes three chapters focusing on policies directly related to improving college access and success. The first chapter focuses on lifetime eligibility of federal and state financial aid policies. The Pell Grant plays a critical role in helping students across the US to afford undergraduate education. In spite of its importance…

Community colleges have started to support students' basic needs in multiple ways. Campus-based hubs offering services like public benefits access, emergency aid, food pantries and case management have become increasingly popular. However, limited evidence exists on whether connecting with these hubs improves academic success. The Advocacy and…