An estimated five million Americans participate in non-credit college and university classes annually. The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) does not require the reporting of non-credit student postsecondary enrollment, which means there is a lack of data about non-credit higher education. This qualitative case study provides…

Background/Context: As students increasingly enroll in online postsecondary courses, instructors and students need new strategies to maintain engagement, motivation, and sense of belonging to have academic success, particularly for historically disadvantaged students. This study focuses on improving student success in online postsecondary STEM…

To understand how to best support Latino male community college students, we used the Socio-Ecological Outcomes (SEO) model to examine factors associated with their achievement and college satisfaction. Specifically, we leveraged data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and situated our study in developmental…

Student persistence remains an important focus for higher education professionals. National conferences and other professional development opportunities regularly highlight information on resources, supports, and programmatic efforts that are most effective at helping college students persist. Retention is a key performance indicator for…

In the spring of 2021, the Community College System in which the author works was in the middle of a planned three-year pilot of math and English self-placement ("Direct Enrollment") procedures. Concerns about the significant English language learner (ELL) population at one institution led to the development of a corequisite support…

The purpose of this study was to better understand the perceptions and experiences of students in a learning community that incorporated culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) into its curriculum. The field site of this instrumental case study was a community college learning community situated in a Hispanic Serving Institution in Texas. Data from…

This paper explores Latino male community college students' perceptions of their course-related interactions with faculty at a Hispanic Serving Institution in California. Using a Critical Race Theory in Education framework, we qualitatively examine the ways in which race and racism shape students' descriptions of these interactions and the extent…

This paper investigates the student perspective on Maryland's Early Childhood Education/Special Education Associate of Arts in Teaching (AAT) degree: the factors that affected their experience, especially with the transfer process, and whether their experiences differed by institution. Viewpoints were gathered through focus groups and individual…

Using data from the 2014 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), we examined traditional and nontraditional students' perceived preparation for job skills in terms of the "three ways of knowing" from a career capital perspective. Results showed that traditional and nontraditional students shared commonalities as well as…

Community colleges in the United States, which serve a disproportionate number of students from low-income backgrounds, can provide a valuable pathway toward well-paying careers. However, graduation rates at community colleges are very low--among first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who enter public two-year schools, only 29 percent…

In Chicago, despite an increase in high school graduates and college enrollment, only one in four community college students graduate within three years. COVID-19 exacerbated longstanding barriers to college success faced by students from low-income backgrounds, as well as for Black, Latino, and Indigenous students. Without proactive interventions…

Following COVID-19, teaching was abruptly shifted from a live to a virtual format, posing a challenge to both students and faculty. There is a need to employ alternatives, emphasizing targeting the factors that suit Generation Z students for effective learning while maintaining social distancing. Understanding students' perceptions about the…

Using a qualitative, naturalistic inquiry research design, and following the guide principles for conducting research with American Indian populations, this study explored how American Indian college students develop a sense of well-being as they pursue an associate degree in a rural community college. To understand well-being from an American…

The perceptions of educators supporting students with disabilities in community colleges was the focus of this narrative inquiry study. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perceptions of educators who teach students with disabilities in community colleges regarding barriers to their achievement and supports and resources…

Completion rates for first-generation community college students continue to be of concern for higher education leaders. Only one out of five students at community colleges obtain their desired degree in three years or less and first-generation students persist less than non-first-generation students. This qualitative descriptive study explored…