While the Hispanic population is the fastest-growing in both the United States and higher education enrollment, the gap in degree attainment for Hispanic students is not closing at the same rate. Degree completion provides Hispanics the opportunity to secure jobs that require skills learned in higher education and, in turn, can increase their…

A three-year study that JFF conducted for the National Science Foundation shows that community college technology internships can be effective bridges to employment for postsecondary students. The research showed that when internships were required for graduation students were much more likely to participate. But for internships to be effective,…

Of the studies of internships at two-year colleges, few have focused specifically on IT and engineering technology (ET) programs and the structures that are essential to building effective technology internships. Case studies at two Florida community colleges enabled the exploration of internship structure, student participation by demographics,…

Despite the growing popularity of WBL, the community college and workforce development fields need greater transparency and clarity on the design of these programs to broaden workforce pathways, ensure the transferability of exemplary program models, and support the advancement of equitable outcomes for all students, especially learners from…

Community colleges provide postsecondary education to millions of students in the United States each year, but their graduation rates are low. Many community colleges have implemented interventions to help students persist in college and earn degrees. MDRC has studied many such interventions; several of them improved students' academic outcomes,…

Women and underrepresented minorities can help fill the ever-growing demand for engineers in the United States. Quality teaching methods, an understanding of the cognitive aspects of learning, and faculty addressing biases help ensure student success in engineering majors. Accordingly, the community college engineering pathway can help fill the…

Millions of individuals in the United States experience problematic substance use that progresses to Substance Use Disorder (SUD). Many people who eventually achieve remission of their SUD symptoms seek vocational and personal fulfillment through pursuing a career in behavioral health counseling with a specific focus in counseling for addictions.…

This quantitative study examined the proportions of students enrolling in and completing transfer-level math pre- and post-Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705), as well as different predictors affecting the completion of transfer-level math within the first year. The study drew attention to the relationship between students' race/ethnicity and the…

Hispanic first-generation students, learning online at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) community college, deserve to be taught using approaches designed specifically to engage them. Research on promising practices being implemented in online course design abound. This study sought to investigate how culture is represented in the curriculum of…

The Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) and the state's 28 public colleges and universities have collaborated over the last fifteen years to make easier and more transparent the process of transferring from a community college to a bachelor's degree program in one of the state's public colleges or universities. In this report, we…

Community colleges play a significant role in the higher education landscape. Open access missions and diverse student bodies are often used to indicate that community colleges are democratizing higher education. This study begins broad questions about what it means to do the work of democracy at a community college. De Anza College in Cupertino,…

The focus of this pragmatic quasi-experimental quantitative case intervention study was to explore the impact of complex video games on academic fatigue on community college Calculus 1 students. The research study was driven by one question. What impact, if any, does the use of complex video games have on academic fatigue from pretest to posttest…

Prior research has shown that adult learners who are non-traditional (NT) college students come to college with different needs, desires, and goals than traditional college students. The problem is that community college educators need to better understand the needs of the changing population of the student body to equitably and effectively serve…

While community college is often seen as an avenue that provides access to higher education to a greater part of the population, community colleges have struggled with improving retention, persistence, and degree completion. Research highlights the importance of helping students develop a sense of belonging at the institution, which has been found…

The Hispanic community within the U.S. has steadily grown over the last few decades. People identifying as Latina/o/x are already the largest minority population and are projected to become 29% of the U.S. population by the year 2050 (Salinas, 2015). Since 1980, the number of school age children within the Latina/o/x community increased from 8.1%…