Community colleges provide a viable arena for workforce development, but it is important that employers and business leaders also invest in employee development. This report identifies steps that employers/business leaders and community college boards can take to promote community colleges as a way to raise the level of skill in the American workforce, including partnering in the development of curriculum and training programs. The authors provide examples from current programs and initiatives.

At the same time that the nation’s community colleges are being challenged to shift their focus from increasing enrollment rates to improving completion rates, these institutions are also facing a reduced budget with which to make those changes. This is a report based on a study that explored the needs of community colleges for improving student success rates and whether external service providers could partner with them to improve student outcomes. The authors discuss 1) the four key areas of needed support to improve community college capacity—institution redesign, use of data, student services and structures, and professional development; 2) the findings which indicate that a robust service provider market can play a viable and cost-effective role in improving completion rates; and 3) recommendations that funders, providers, colleges, policymakers, and intermediaries can implement to enable conditions for increasing the supply of effective service providers available to community colleges.

Regularly faced with budget reductions, public colleges and universities are still expected to improve access to education. This report examines various performance measures at higher education systems nationwide against the levels of per-student funding. Measures analyzed include completion rates, degree productivity, and research and development. From this initial study, they find that different institutions can perform at the same level with differing amounts of resources, and therefore, some institutions can maintain or improve performance with fewer resources.

In many industries, opportunities for advancement depend on additional training that employers may be reluctant to provide, seeing it as a disruption that compromises service. This practice guide discusses the Jobs to Career Initiative, a work-based learning model which integrates learning into the job and provides participants the opportunity to earn college credit. This approach is considered most effective for frontline healthcare workers who often earn low wages. While the approach is still developing, the authors highlight two sites where it is being implemented and offer lessons learned and suggestions for site-specific strategies.

Our nation’s ability to improve its economy and stability is dependent upon our ability to increase college completion rates. This annual report offers a detailed update on the nation’s effort to reach its goal of 60 percent of Americans holding a high-quality postsecondary credential by 2025. Using 2010 Census data, the report provides college-attainment data at national, state, and county levels; attainment rates by racial/ethnic groups at the national and state levels; and college-attainment rates for the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.

Few institutions of higher learning have yet to figure out how to successfully graduate a majority of their students, much less place them in high-wage jobs. This report describes the Tennessee Technology Centers —a statewide system of 27 institutions that provide rigorous technical and occupational education programs at consistently high completion and placement rates. The report provides an overview of the system and examines four integrated components of its institutional framework—program structure; a competency-based, self-paced learning model; contextualized foundation skills; and supportive services—and discusses how each contributes to the effectiveness seen in this new model of student success.

The Achieving the Dream website offers a national longitudinal database, data notes, and research publications all targeted to improving student outcomes at community colleges. 

Jobs for the Future’s Breaking Through initiative is designed to help community colleges build programs that encourage low-skill adult students in pursuing career training and degree programs. In support of this goal, schools need to effectively gather and analyze data to determine program impacts. This toolkit provides a guide to data types and collection and analysis methods and outlines the common core data points that will help colleges ensure the usefulness of data collected. An appendix includes a larger map of data points to consider.

An ever-evolving labor market requires that education and training keep up with changing demands to ensure that students and graduates are equipped to pursue and attain available jobs. This report discusses the challenges that postsecondary institutions have staying abreast of current labor market demands and offering courses that prepare students with the skills employers need. The author proposes that community colleges use online job advertisements to identify local hiring trends and skill requirements and use the findings to inform career pathway curricula. Additionally, the author presents three steps for analyzing online job ads, identifies features of actual online job sites that would enable this analysis, and describes five examples from the field.

Features academic resources, community college finders,research, publications, and Fast Facts for higher education administrators and students worldwide.

The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) is a non-profit educational organization of governing boards, representing elected and appointed trustees who govern over 1,200 community, technical, and junior colleges in the United States.

Students in the U.S. understand the importance of a college education; 88% of eighth graders assume they will enter some sort of postsecondary program. Despite this high level of college aspiration, students often find the reality of the college entrance process and college-level coursework overwhelming. This report uses data from six states to explore how a lack of alignment between K–12 and postsecondary education contributes to misconceptions about what constitutes college readiness and how the college application process works. The authors discuss major points of disconnect, including assessments and curricular design, and offer recommendations for strengthening the ties between K–12 and postsecondary policies to build comprehensive P–16 systems.

Continuing and increasing educational and workforce inequalities of Hispanic, Black, and American Indian/Alaska Native populations, if left unchecked, will negatively impact the economic welfare of the western United States. This report focuses on the ability of these states to educate minorities in order to improve their workforces and economies. The author uses state-by-state data to examine current education gaps, preparation for high-skill and high-wage jobs for certain minority groups, workforce status, and the impact of increasing the educated minority workforce in the region.

The new American majority of students on college campuses, especially community colleges, is a population balancing work and school within an outdated system that was designed for full-time, residential students. This policy brief describes how college completion rates can be improved if students took less time to graduate, which could be achieved if schools offered more directed program choices and fewer individual course options. The author maintains that state leaders and policymakers, as well as leaders of higher education, must enact reform efforts that are systemic and replicable toward changing the structure of community colleges, such as those in Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee.

While use of student data at community colleges has historically been limited to required federal reporting, schools are now exploring methods of using data to identify areas of student weakness, progress, and growth in order to strengthen the delivery and support of learning. This report describes the experiences of four community colleges working to build a culture of evidence-based decision-making by implementing strategies for improved data use. Other institutions can use the lessons learned by these colleges as a model for strengthening their organization and use of institutional data.

This brief summarizes the findings of a two-year study of educational outcomes for participants in Washington State’s career-oriented training program, I-BEST. Initial evaluations found that the program showed significant impact on student success. The CCRC study, which included controls for population variables, supports these earlier evaluations, showing improved outcomes in credits earned, persistence, and completion for I-BEST participants over similar students not in the program.

Certain false assumptions can undermine the implementation of lasting and effective change. The authors present the realities behind these “myths,” exploring what leadership actions are needed to assess and mitigate the risks involved in major organizational change. While presenting examples primarily from the corporate realm, the major ideas are applicable within an educational setting.

In California, the completion and transfer rates for community college students is very low. This report examines California community college degree and certificate attainment and transfers to a California public, four-year college among first-time freshmen. Based on the data results on who is reaching completion, the report shows a very diverse student population and, thus, offers policy considerations for improving student success for all the varied types of students wanting to attain higher education.

Created for Achieving the Dream participants, this step-by-step planning guide focuses on seven key principles for building effective dialogues around improvement efforts, including engaging diverse and representative participants, hosting conversations with well-trained moderators, and following up to create ongoing relationships. The planning guide, available in both English and Spanish, includes a comprehensive moderator’s guide, sample invitations, and schedules.

Millions of Americans who are out of work want to work, but don’t know how to reenter the 21st century job market. This report describes how five Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways provide education and training that could help Americans become employable for jobs that offer middle-class earnings without the need for a bachelor’s degree. The authors discuss different types of jobs and industries in the current job market and describe each of the five pathways that best support those particular jobs and industries. The authors also suggest policy recommendations for advancing the nation’s CTE infrastructure.

Keynote speech at the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Annual Leadership Congress, San Francisco, CA.  

Often unaware of financial aid resources and employment services available on campus, many community college students struggle to get the support they need and end up leaving, never attaining their degree or certificate. This documentation study examines how integrated service delivery, specifically the Center for Working Families (CWF) bundled approach, is being implemented at ten community colleges to achieve improved postsecondary outcomes for low-income students. The authors discuss the diverse ways that these community colleges have deployed the CWF approach, while presenting key findings on implementation and lessons related to data tracking, bundling of services, and sustainability. Using case studies and brief descriptions, the report describes each of the ten community colleges’ CWF program or implementation process. 

It’s believed that an education requiring less than one year of study has little economic value, but certificates are overlooked as a pathway that can lead to employment or a higher-level credential. This report describes how certificates can positively influence long-term income earnings, especially when a certificate holder works in the field of study or in fields with high-demand occupations. Using longitudinal data, the report discusses certificate-earning trends, the demographics on who is earning them, and the states that award the most certificates.

A guide to assist community college faculty, staff, and administrators as they begin their work to rethink and redesign their systems, programs, and instruction to improve student completion.

Among first-time community college students, the credential completion rate is low but the rates of completion are even less successful for low-income students. This paper uses quantitative data of a single cohort from the state of Washington to chart the rates at which students, especially socioeconomically disadvantaged students, enter a concentration, take remedial courses in each concentration, earn certificates or degrees, or transfer to four-year institutions. The authors examine the course-taking behavior of low-income students and find that compared to their peers from higher socioeconomic levels, low-income students are more likely to start in adult basic courses and less likely to enter a concentration in a field of study. Of those who select a concentration, low-income students are more likely to enter in career technical education, where completion rates are lower.

Despite a growing student demand for more course-taking opportunities in higher education, community colleges must operate with insufficient funding and limited institutional capacity. This report analyzes recent enrollment and policy trends at the nation’s community colleges. The author describes a discouraging situation, revealing expanding caps on community college enrollment, narrowing educational program aimed more at workforce development than continuing on for a bachelor’s degree, and decreased access to higher education for low-income students and students of color. The author concludes with recommendations that faculty can take to challenge and redirect the course of policy and practice in community colleges.

Our nation has been challenged to increase its production of college graduates, but postsecondary institutions are struggling to get students to completion. These guidelines are for leaders and faculty of higher education institutions in their efforts to improve assessment and accountability in their colleges. The principles discussed are aimed at helping institutions set goals for student achievement, use evidence to measure performance, improve outcomes, and report results. 

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 and institutional information from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, researchers examined various characteristics of community colleges—including size, demographics of student population, type of faculty employed, and finances—to identify those factors that affect students’ success.

As community colleges are working to improve student completion rates, it’s not often that college leaders can learn the collective views of their students about what’s working and not working for them at the institution. This report uses focus group data to describe the perspectives of community college students— current students, completers, and non-completers—and their community college experiences. Specifically, the authors identify findings as they relate to three areas: connection to information and supports, connection to instructional services, and connection to career and/or career exploration. In each area, the authors discuss students’ perspectives on the services that met their needs, key challenges they encountered, and suggestions for improving how colleges can be more pro-active in anticipating student needs and engaging student learning.

The Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL) is a national public charity dedicated to developing adult education, ESL, and workforce skills in America. CAAL operates a varied program of  research, policy and issue analysis, symposia, planning, and leadership development activities. 

These slides accompany a presentation on how to develop deep learning experiences. The presentation maps out methods to influence students’ approach to learning and the mental processes involved in deep learning, providing strategies that can be used to encourage students to engage these processes.

In our nation’s effort to improve our economy by providing a trained and educated workforce, there is significant effort to raise completion rates for students who are college ready and on the path to graduating, but little attention is given to students who left higher education just short of their degree. This brief introduces and elevates the concept of near completion and highlights ways in which institutions serving these students, as well as policymakers, researchers, and employers, can reengage and graduate this population. The brief offers short-term strategies that higher education leaders and other interested stakeholders can implement to keep momentum going.

High school students take Advanced Placement and dual enrollment courses, believing these courses will increase their college access and success. This study uses data from two cohorts of Florida high school students to examine the predictive outcomes of students who take these courses. The author finds that dual enrollment students are more likely than Advanced Placement students to go to college after high school, but are less likely to first enroll in a four-year college. In terms of bachelor’s degree attainment, the difference between dual enrollment students and Advanced Placement students is much smaller and not statistically significant.

This brief report profiles a young adult returning to school through the support of a Back on Track program, “X-Cel,” aimed at getting disconnected youth on a path toward postsecondary success. Focusing on the journey of this one individual, the report describes how X-Cel provides one-to-one support to low-income, young adults to help them successfully complete high school and navigate the obstacles of college.

Various student ethnic populations are likely to have very different conceptions of the campus community, and these conceptions have a significant impact on their experience of postsecondary education. All schools, but particularly those with increasingly diverse student populations, need to understand this and provide effective targeted supports that address the racial climate on campus. This report offers a detailed review of research on the impact of racial climate on student attitudes and outcomes and provides examples of programs schools have implemented to address the complexities of student diversity.

The dashboard’s purpose is to promote continuous improvement and hold the system and each of its 32 colleges and universities accountable by providing ongoing performance assessment. Currently, the dashboard reports data on six of 10 measures for each college and university and for the system as a whole. They are affordability, student persistence and completion rates, employment rate of graduates, licensure exam pass rates, facilities condition and percent change in enrollment. The dashboard also provides context for interpreting system and institutional performance with trend information, comments and direct comparisons.

This guide, part of the Achieving the Dream initiative aimed at college reform in pursuit of student success, provides an overview of the initiative’s student-centered institutional improvement framework. The framework revolves around a five-step process: commit; use data; engage stakeholders; implement and evaluate; and establish a culture of continuous improvement. The guide also includes profiles of effective institutional transformations, as well as a readiness assessment schools can use to examine their current policies and practices in relation to the Achieving the Dream model.

Community college ESL programs vary widely in the structure and support they provide to students. This report summarizes the major findings of a series of studies on the nature and effectiveness of selected ESL programs, identifying and describing promising strategies for improving ESL instruction that are too often absent from developmental courses. These strategies relate to high-intensity instruction, authentic experiences, attention to diversity of learners, and increased transition rates. Additionally, the author discusses how ESL programs often lack student services, a professionalized faculty, strategic planning, and adequate standardized assessments — all of which require proper funding, clear program goals, and a network for ESL programs.

Adult learners pursuing their postsecondary degrees after time away from the classroom need additional support to stay in school, different from the traditional student. Common strategies for helping adult learners achieve their goals are innovative academic programming, increased and creative financial aid opportunities, and support services. This study examines another strategy, Prior Learning Assessment, or PLA, which is the process by which colleges evaluate for academic credit the college-level knowledge and skills an individual has gained outside of the classroom such as through employment, the military, or hobbies. The findings show positive outcomes for PLA students who, compared to non-PLA students, had higher degree-earning rates and earned degrees in less time, saving on costs to the individuals and the institutions. Additionally, the report discusses PLA methods offered among the 48 colleges and universities studied, characteristics of the adult learners who participate in PLA, and their college-going behavior.

A distillation of the paper of the same name, this presentation from the 2011 convention of the American Association of Community Colleges explores the importance of tracking student progress toward entry in coherent programs of study and provides an overview of effective practices to enact at each phase to improve students’ success.

For five years, 15 states — committed to increasing postsecondary education access and improving completion rates at community colleges — participated in the Achieving the Dream initiative. Guiding state planning and decision making, the states identified a student success policy framework constituting five specific policies, described in this report. The framework emphasizes policies related to: a public policy commitment to student success, a strong performance measurement and data system, assessment and placement policies focused on accelerating students, student persistence and completion, and aligned expectations across educational sectors. Additionally, the report presents results of how the states implemented each of the five policies and describes examples of state action for each policy.

While any college degree is better than none when it comes to finding employment, current economic trends make certain degrees far more beneficial in the current climate. This report explores the various factors that can impact the usefulness of specific career-oriented degrees areas (e.g., computer science or health services) and provides data on unemployment rates and earning potential across common college majors.

Students receiving financial aid for their postsecondary education can budget their expenses with the anticipation of tuition, books, and living expenses; however, for a low-income student facing an unforeseen financial crisis, the unplanned expenses and lack of funds may lead to dropping out of school. This report evaluates two Lumina Foundation for Education emergency financial aid programs — the Dreamkeepers and Angel Fund — created to assist students at community colleges or tribal colleges and universities who are at risk of dropping out because of unexpected financial crises. The two programs are evaluated for how they are designed and implemented at the participating colleges and universities, focusing on the most frequent reasons students request financial help, eligibility parameters schools use for awarding grants, characteristics of aid recipients, impact on student retention, and fundraising capacities. Based on the data of the 37 Dreamkeepers and Angel Fund colleges, the authors capture challenges that the participating institutions faced and present lessons learned and recommendations for colleges interested in instituting similar emergency financial aid programs.

Engaging community college faculty in reform efforts is critical to bridging the divide between policy and practice. Based on the experiences of 11 Achieving the Dream states, this report discusses three key ways that states can support institutions in improving faculty engagement in the effort to increase completion rates. The key steps include empowering faculty and enlisting them on committees that recommend policy, expanding professional development for teachers to improve pedagogy, and providing access and support for data use to inform practice. Each of the three key steps is accompanied by examples of what specific states are already doing to support faculty leadership.

Postsecondary institutions are faced with the tremendous challenge of how to improve student persistence. Open access institutions, which serve greater proportions of high-risk students, see even lower rates of retention and graduation than do selective institutions. Based on a study of four for-profit schools in Texas that had high graduation rates and low student loan default rates, this report describes what those institutions did to achieve such positive outcomes, particularly for these high-risk students. This study finds that among these institutions, a combination of key institutional practices aimed at retaining and graduating students along with establishment of a culture that emphasizes completion and job placement contributed to these schools’ abilities to support postsecondary student success.

This Internal Stakeholder Engagement toolkit is designed to support cadres’ and colleges’ efforts to more effectively engage key internal stakeholders (faculty, staff, and administration) during the final quarter of the Completion by Design (CBD) planning year. While the short- term goal of this toolkit is to help the managing partner directors, senior partners, cadre team leads, co-leads, and trained facilitators engage internal stakeholders to inform the design of the cadres’ model pathway plans, it is important that cadres also take a broader view of this work and plan accordingly. 

As the costs of college increase and the amount of financial aid awarded students decreases, low-income students are impacted in ways that are critical to their college enrollment and success. This report examines how barriers to financial aid access are as a result of systemic issues at the federal, state, and institutional levels, but how especially for low-income adult students, these trends lessen the opportunities for postsecondary success. Based on conversations with practitioners, policymakers, and other experts on financial aid, the authors offer key recommendations to funders on improving financial aid access toward the goal of increasing college access and completion for low-income young adults: Support the leveraging of existing aid channels, innovate aid access and delivery, and expand the amount of aid in the system.

Effective education reform constitutes an adaptive challenge; that is, it is complex, and even when effective solutions are found, little authority exists to impose their universal implementation. In this article, the authors draw on an example of foundation and school district partnership in Pittsburgh to examine the role of foundation leadership in helping stakeholders respond to adaptive challenges.

As the focus on evidence-based education reform has increased, so too has the importance of strong longitudinal data systems to track student progress and achievement. This brief explores the role of data systems and provides recommendations for state-level policies and practices for data collection, management, and analysis, including examples from current state data systems. A summary list provides an at-a-glance guide to the essential characteristics of effective data systems.

Literacy Information and Communication System (LINCS) is a national dissemination an dprofessional development system, providing information on literacy research, practice, and resources.

The authors analyze data on first-time community college students in Florida to better understand the probability of underprepared students’ successful transfer to four-year institutions. The study pays particular attention to the impact of intermediate outcomes (e.g., passing college-level math, meeting specific credit thresholds, earning an associate degree) on the likelihood of transfer.

Although there has been a positive shift toward measuring student readiness for postsecondary work, there has been less attention paid to measuring institutional readiness for providing student support. Based on the research literature and identified data resources, this paper introduces a new set of metrics for improving institutional performance. The authors discuss challenges encountered in defining indicators that identify institutional conditions that foster student success as well as the metrics for measuring them. Despite the challenges, the report suggests five major conditions for success and correlating indicators and metrics.

This memo is third in a series of eight memos responding to questions regarding student service delivery methods and structures.

Memo 3 addresses the question: What research is there on the effectiveness of student success courses in helping to improve community college student outcomes? What are the elements of an effective student success course?

This memo is seventh in a series of eight memos responding to questions regarding student service delivery methods and structures.

Memo 7 addresses the question: Are some student support services demonstrated to be more effective for high-need, high- touch students and for low-need students? If so, what services are most effective for each group of students?

Our nation has increasing labor market demands and is relying on community colleges to help educate more students to fill the workforce gaps. In order to provide a successful education for a broader population, community colleges need to expand what’s working on a bigger scale; however, they need to do it in a sustainable way. After examining common barriers to scaling up institutional practices using traditional, less effective approaches, this guide suggests a framework—a different organizational approach—that community colleges might consider for scaling up existing programs. The guide offers a systematic approach to assessing institutional readiness for change, followed by a detailed, five-step process for moving forward that includes helpful tools, case examples, and discussions on what to anticipate.

With businesses in Ohio facing a growing need for skilled employees but a lack of qualified candidates, it became clear that the state needed a way to quickly prepare low-skilled adults for the workforce. This report presents the “Stackable Certificate” framework developed by Community Research Partners, which was to designed shore up adult students’ basic skills in math and reading while simultaneously providing them with for-credit career training.

Based on survey data of more than 600 young adults, this final report of three examines the perspectives of students who completed college, students who didn’t finish college, and those who never attended to better understand the supports and barriers that influenced their higher education choices and outcomes. The report discusses key findings that reveal a group of young adults who may not understand the growing importance of an education for a changing workforce and are unaware of financial resources available to them. The authors present implications and questions for policymakers, especially related to financial aid. 

California, like many other states, is facing the need for updating and expansion of its infrastructure, which is going to require qualified workers in many fields, including green jobs, construction, and the utilities. This report analyzes how California community colleges can prepare students to fill high demand “middle-skill” positions requiring certificates or credentials in various career pathways (e.g., restructuring programs and providing additional supports). The authors provide case studies of middle-skill programs currently in place and outline challenges to program success, from lack of student preparedness to a disconnected labor market.

Implemented in 2007, the Washington State Student Achievement Initiative provides incentive funding to schools that show improved student achievement. Designed to inform and support policymakers in other states, this policy brief examine the choices Washington State policymakers faced in determining exactly how to foster buy-in and engagement in the initiative, define and measure achievement, and source and allocate funding.

As states are looking into how to strengthen their student data and performance measurement systems to track student progress and success, they are in need of best practices that are taking root in other states. Based on a set of indicators identified by seven Achieving the Dream states focused on developing and improving their data systems, this policy brief describes the essential features that a state should consider when building or modifying its performance measurement and data systems, as well as the research capacity to support data-driven improvement strategies. Goldberger describes 10 performance measurement features, seven data system features, and four research capacity features along with examples of how other states are effectively demonstrating each particular feature.

One of the stated missions of community colleges is to open the door to further postsecondary education, allowing students a lower-cost way to earn initial college credit that can later be transferred to a four-year institution. However, as the authors state, disconnected institutional cultures often impede students from successfully transitioning from community colleges to four-year programs. This paper sets out practices that can be implemented to build a transfer-going culture on both sides of the postsecondary equation and provides case studies of how these have been enacted in California.

Since higher education funding is based on student enrollment rather than student success, there is little incentive for colleges and universities to improve, much less measure, student outcomes. Aware of the need for higher education to change its focus, this study analyzed the higher education accountability systems of all fifty states to uncover the kind of information a state gathers about its colleges and students, and how it uses the information to make colleges and students more successful. The report describes the current state of higher education accountability — highlighting best practices already in use — and offers a set of guidelines for designing a model state higher education accountability system.

Community colleges are currently faced with the challenge of raising their graduation rates while dealing with budget cuts. To increase student achievement without requiring large amounts of additional funding, schools need to be particularly attentive to their organizational practices. Drawing postsecondary, K–12, and non-education sector research, this report examines the practices commonly seen in high-performing organizations, including functional alignment, use of data in improvement efforts, and employee engagement and training. The author focuses his recommendations on those practices that support a continuous cycle of improvement.

For too many postsecondary students, remedial courses act more as a barrier than a support to attaining their degree or credential. Using data on college readiness, this report describes how the current developmental education model is failing to move students along on a successful path to completion. The report proposes specific practices for better preparing students for college-level work before they begin college and a new model in which, in lieu of remedial courses, all students enroll in first-year college courses that include embedded tutoring and support. The report presents 33 state profiles, each showing demographics of students in need of remediation and the rates at which students are completing remediation and college in that state.

Transferring from a four-year to a two-year institution is not considered part of the student success agenda, yet this movement does exist among students and is worth exploring. This report uses longitudinal data to examine the behavior and outcomes of first-time students who transfer from four-year to two-year institutions. The authors discuss enrollment behaviors, subsequent enrollment outcomes, student pathways and completion, and six-year outcomes for all reverse transfer students who returned to their institution of origin.

While the Latino population in the United States continues to grow, college completion rates remain low for Latino students. Improving degree attainment among Latinos is vital to reaching the nation’s educational goals. To that end, this guide outlines recommended actions and areas for consideration for policymakers at the community, college, state, and federal levels.

Community colleges serve a diverse population of students who have varying interests and goals. This summary presents the results of an online survey involving 1,205 community college students. It reports on who today’s community college students are, factors that contribute to success, and how technology is used by this group of students.

As funding for financial aid diminishes, states need to leverage their resources to best support student success. Prepared for Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s Vision Project, this report examines existing financial aid policies currently in place in various states to improve college access and success. The author categorizes financial aid policies into three distinct models — entitlement programs, programs targeted to low-income students, and programs that reward certain behaviors — and describes them for Massachusetts’ consideration in its desire and effort to improve college success and degree completion through student financial aid reform.

Currently, community college outcomes are measured by student enrollment or degree completion rates, but not milestones on the pathway to a degree. This report offers a framework for using available knowledge and data to measure student progress using two factors: the intermediary educational achievements students reach while attaining their degree, and indicators of success or academic patterns that correlate with forward progress and completion. The authors demonstrate how analysis of California community college data using the framework yields information about which students are not reaching each milestone toward degree completion, and how this data could inform colleges on how to better improve college completion for students most in need.

In order to meet the postsecondary degree and certificate target goals set by the Obama administration, numerous states, and some foundations, our nation will need to engage nontraditional students, such as adults, to help meet these goals. Based on conversations held by the Adult College Completion (ACC) Network, this brief discusses the strategies that Network members are using to target adult students, in particular those with prior college credit as a key strategy to improving the completion agenda. From these conversations, five topics emerged: data availability on the returning adult population, partnerships, communication and marketing campaign for outreach, transfer credits, and prior learning assessment. The author discusses and provides promising strategies for each.

This Student Focus Group Resource Guide was developed by WestEd and Public Agenda for CBD to support cadres in their efforts to learn from students. It is intended to be a user-friendly tool to help with the planning, execution, analysis and reporting of student focus groups. It includes tips for each phase of the process--planning for the focus groups, conducting focus groups, and post-focus group work such as using a de-brief form for facilitators. The guide includes a sample set of questions to ask students (also called a protocol) and a sample facilitator de-brief form or protocol. 

PowerPoint presentation accompanying WestEd/Public Agenda's Student Focus Group Training Webinar, January 10, 2012.

As colleges invest tremendous efforts into reforming higher education and improving the student success rate, there are few opportunities to hear from those most directly impacted — the students. Based on student focus group data from 161 current and former (i.e., completed or dropped out) community college students in four states, this report presents student viewpoints on the relationship between their education goals and their college experience. A discussion of the five themes that emerged, including stories and recommendations of the students, is offered as useful information to stakeholders engaged in the process of student-centered reform.

This report examines how schools can use intermediate milestones to inform and improve student completion rates. The authors describe frameworks for examining milestones, highlighting key differences and features. They then review 11 cases of organizations using intermediate measures, describing the types of data gathered and principal use.

Currently, the federal approach to measuring community college completion assumes that students will earn a credential within three years, but this assumes a college-attending behavior similar to a traditional full-time student, and does not account for older or part-time students who work and raise families while attending school. This policy brief discusses how the current federal method for measuring community college performance is too simplistic, and describes a modified approach to defining and measuring student success with more accuracy. Based on the pilot project of the Achieving the Dream Cross-State Data Work Group, the author reports on the group’s methodology for analyzing postsecondary data, the results of their testing process, and how the findings can lead to changes in state policy concerning increased community college success.

Funders, organizations, and colleges want new models for how to improve postsecondary success rates, but working alone, they are limited by their own capacity, knowledge, and existing systems. This report describes the successful collaboration between a community-based organization (CBO) and a New York City community college focused on improving the college success rates of underrepresented, postsecondary students. Bringing their resources and strengths, the two partners provided a comprehensive support system to the underperforming students that helped in their academic, and social and developmental preparation for college. The authors describe how the collaboration began, key components of the initiative, and lessons learned for future endeavors between CBOs and postsecondary institutions.

In 2009, the College Board’s Commission on Access, Admissions and Success in Higher Education issued a set of 10 comprehensive education reform recommendations designed to improve student achievement and degree attainment. These recommendations, spanning issues from preschool access to college costs and financial aid, are designed to support the Commission’s goal of raising college completion to 55% of young adults (ages 24–35) by 2025. In this follow-up report, the authors examine the progress and challenges in each area, summarizing the reasoning for the recommendation and any current policy issues surrounding it.

A November 2010 meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges provided the opportunity for members to focus on four major completion-related topics: commitment, accountability for outcomes, toolkits, and overcoming obstacles. This report summarizes the meeting sessions, including the key points raised, suggestions for improvement, and examples of work currently being done.

Researchers and practitioners needing to understand student course-taking patterns and programs of study at community colleges don’t have an easy task given that students don’t declare a major and often take a diverse selection of courses. This paper explores the development of a tool that would assist in understanding course-taking activity of community college students at the college system or individual institution level. The authors explain a methodology involving college transcripts and a clustering algorithm that clusters similar patterns of course taking to understand demographics, and completion and transfer rates in different programs of study.

This publication compiles research from various authors on eight subtopics regarding financial aid, including loans, tax issues, and persistence rates. Authors used existing data to evaluate the effectiveness of policies, defining effectiveness as it relates to an increase in enrollment rates without compromising the quality of the institution. Bringing these works together is meant to encourage the design of more effective student aid policies and reform of the federal student aid system.

This report explores how student success may be improved through effective, engaging instruction from teachers who understand the background, goals, and experiences of community college students. Drawing on data from surveys, interviews, and focus groups on student and faculty perceptions of the community college experience, the authors recommend implementing four key strategies to promoting learning: strengthening classroom engagement; integrating student support into learning experiences; expanding professional development on student engagement; and focusing institutional policies on creating conditions that support learning.

Focusing on the healthcare industry, the Jobs to Careers initiative builds partnerships among employers and educational organizations (e.g., colleges and other training programs) to improve on-the-job training opportunities. Using this self-assessment tool designed for prospective initiative participants, organizations can examine their existing work-based learning opportunities to identify areas for improvement. The tool also offers examples of practices to strengthen work-based learning opportunities at their institutions. The authors note that the tool has not been fully validated nor tested for reliability.

Employers need skilled workers, but there needs to be new and clearer career pathways for adults to get the education and training they need to become such workers. As part of a technical assistance effort, this report presents a framework — comprising six key elements — that workforce investment systems can use to develop and implement successful career pathways, especially for adult learners. For each element, the report offers examples of specific approaches and models in place among states. The authors also discuss how key state and local workforce investment systems can strategically partner to improve career pathways toward educating a more prepared generation of workers.

The structure hypothesis argues that community college students are more likely to succeed when offered a highly structured program of study that makes clear the path to completion and reduces bureaucratic barriers. Using existing research this report examines the decision-making processes that students must go through to successfully navigate college and the psychological impacts of making these decisions in a low-structure context. The author then reviews several methods that schools might consider implementing to provide students with a more structured, easier to navigate college experience, including revised curriculum design and improved access to information.

Unless we increase production of our nation’s college graduates, we will not keep up with the growing demands for qualified workers. As a result, income levels of only the college educated will increase, leading to greater inequality between those with a bachelor’s degree and those without. This report addresses the need to increase degree completion rates and to increase our college-educated population for a more robust economy and to remain competitive as a nation. The authors take a historic look at the relationship of income disparity and college education attainment, and argue that we need to remove barriers to degree completion and to improve the quality of high school graduates in order to increase our population of postsecondary-educated workers.

While there is growing interest to improve college completion rates, the federal government only requires that public colleges and universities track first-time, full-time students, overlooking the 40 percent of postsecondary students who attend part-time and don’t fit this profile of the traditional college-going student. With the support of 33 participating states, this report examines that often missing postsecondary data that include the non-traditional student and presents five findings on their postsecondary performance concerning demographics, graduation rates, transfer rates, course completion, and remediation. In addition to the findings, the report offers recommendations to colleges on how to address issues in each of the five areas, as well as shares what some states are doing to reduce the time it takes to graduate, thereby increasing the chances of success for all students. Finally, the report presents comparison data on postsecondary performance by state and provides individual profiles on how students in each state are faring.

This publication is intended as a supplement to the main study report, Passing the Torch: Strategies for Innovation in Community College ESL by Chisman and Crandall. It presents in-depth profiles of the five college programs whose adult ESL services were studied and found to be innovative and successful in terms of learning gains, student retention, and transitions to further education. Specifically, each profile addresses ESL programs, noncredit ESL program characteristics, special program features, use of technology, articulation and transitions, faculty, management, finance and program effectiveness.

Currently, students who transfer institutions before earning a degree are reported as dropouts by their first institution, reinforcing an assumption that there is little mobility among college students. Using student-level enrollment data, this report examines the transfer behavior over five years of all students who began postsecondary education in the U.S. in 2006, and reveals that, in fact, postsecondary student enrollment, transfer, and persistence across all sectors of higher education is complex. The authors discuss the transfer patterns and findings, suggesting that with the realization that one-third of all students transfer before earning their degree, new approaches and metrics can be used to better support students on their educational pathway to degree attainment.

Among states, there is growing interest in providing new incentives to community college systems for improving college completion, but there are few resources available. This brief presents a set of tools that can help states design performance-based funding systems to influence student and institutional behavior. The first tool is a set of reflections based on Ohio’s new performance-based funding system that shifted its focus from course enrollment to course completion. The second tool is a set of recommendations to guide state leaders through design and implementation issues, especially related to challenges of equity, sustainability and political buy-in. The last tool is a matrix that summarizes similarities and differences among the Achieving the Dream states that have performance-based funding for their community colleges.

Some would believe that the playing fields are leveled when California students leave their intensely segregated high schools and enter their local community colleges. This report explores the student pipelines to and from Southern California’s 51 community colleges and describes the varying levels of segregation and educational opportunity for the students among these institutions. The authors examine the relationship between high school performance and racial and ethnic segregation in the 51 community colleges, as well as the transfer outcomes among all racial and ethnic groups. The authors conclude with recommendations for improving access, affordability, and excellence, especially for students faced with the greatest needs.

Some community college degree completers earn more credits than required at the cost of additional fees and time. Using data from six cohorts in one state’s community college system, this paper examines the percentage of students earning excess credits and the particular programs in which this phenomenon most frequently occurs. The author discusses possible contributing factors and recommends that colleges conduct degree audits to reduce the extraneous course-taking behaviors.

Community colleges continue to explore innovative approaches to increasing the graduation rates of their students. This report examines one such program: CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), a multifaceted and long-term program with the goal of graduating 50 percent of its students within three years. Aimed at helping community college students graduate, ASAP provides supports and incentives for overcoming barriers to student success throughout the three years. Presenting promising early findings, the authors discuss the effects on full-time enrollment, credits earned and completed developmental coursework, and semester-by-semester retention.

Improving the success of college completion and transfer rates requires new innovations aimed exactly at those efforts. This report profiles five California community colleges that have implemented practices or programs focused on completion and transfer to a four-year university or the workforce. Additionally, this report presents four commonalities, based on the work of these community colleges, that serve as a framework for any effort to improve student success: information matters, working together, supporting students outside the classroom, and college leaders are key.

This report explores “degree productivity” improvement through a synthesis of research, an analysis of systemwide datasets, and detailed studies of high-performing institutions. Based on these sources and observations, the authors suggest the following five practices, in conjunction with essential elements, for increasing productivity without reducing the quality or access to education:

1. Systematically enabling students to reach graduation through reforms such as structured pathways to graduation, effective student supports and placement, and preparing students for post-study work.
2. Reduce nonproductive credits by improving developmental education and tutoring, implementing policies for tracking and intervening to support student progress and completion, and aligning transfer policies.
3. Redesign the delivery of instruction by leveraging technology to become more cost-effective, providing course mentors to augment online teaching materials, and including a full summer semester to the academic calendar year.
4. Provide more efficient core supports and services by implementing cost-saving measures such as converting from a paper-based to an electronic system and providing self-service online systems for administering financial aid.
5. Optimize non-core services and maintaining only mission-critical, non-core services.

For all institutions to increase their degree of productivity to the levels achieved by the highlighted high- performing institutions, the authors suggest the following steps for institutions as well as policymakers:

1. Honest self-assessments conducted by higher education institutions to compare their overall productivity and performance on the five identified practices to those of highly productive institutions. Moreover, institutions must assess the will and skill of leadership and management to pursue systemwide change.
2. Improve statewide performance measurement, data gathering, and benchmarking to improve the tracking of institutional progress. Without this in place, states and institutions cannot be held accountable for their progress.
3. Make productivity in higher education a priority in state and federal policy. While they should not dictate how to increase productivity, grants and policies should support innovative strategies and the sharing of best practices.

With national interest focused on increasing college completion rates, decision-makers and the public need to understand some of the barriers to completion from the perspective of the students themselves. Using survey data of more than 600 young adults, this first of three reports compares the reasons why students leave college before completing a degree or certificate with those of students who had successfully completed a two- or four-year college program. The authors discuss the myths about why students drop out of college and the actual findings as reported by the students. The report also presents solutions that students believed would have made a significant difference in successfully completing their postsecondary education.

Students arrive to college needing more than just academic supports, but they don’t always know how to look for the help they need to be successful. This paper uses student interview data to examine how the academic confidence of community college students — both apprehensive students and self-assured students — is shaped by their prior academic experiences as well as the new experiences gained in their postsecondary career. The authors discuss how academic confidence can impact student success over time, and as a result of the study, use data to suggest classroom and on-campus strategies for creating opportunities that may contribute to improving student success.