Using data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of "Data Notes" highlights some of the differences that exist between states. In addition to Achieving the Dream data, this report includes data from the U.S. Department of Education's Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) for the 2008-09 academic year to describe differences among the states in which Achieving the Dream operates. The results suggest that state context is an important consideration in understanding what contributes to student success. More students in states that historically have larger proportions of low-income residents receive federal aid than do those students in states with lower proportions of low-income residents. State and local support of colleges is another factor in providing the resources necessary to educate students, with appropriations per FTE ranging from a high of $11,314 to a low of $3,507. On average, 57 percent of entering students were referred to developmental education, with a state percentages ranging from 75 percent to 47 percent of students. Overall, seven percent of students referred to developmental English successfully completed gateway English within two years of enrolling, compared with five percent of students referred to developmental math. Some states were seen to consistently lead on persistence across all three years, while others trailed the average, were below average, or showed within-year variation on persistence rates. (Contains 6 footnotes and 3 figures.)