Many students—especially, low-income or racially and ethnically underrepresented students—begin their postsecondary education at a two-year college; however, increasing education costs are making it more difficult for these students to stay in school, transfer to a baccalaureate-granting institution, and earn a degree. This report addresses the concern that community college tuition increases have outpaced family income and financial aid options. The report calls for improved financial aid policies, such as financial assistance for part-time students who need to work, and more efficient pathways for transferring from community college to four-year institutions, such as adoption of a common course numbering system across two- and four-year colleges to ensure that credits from courses that teach the same content are recognized and transferable.

This brief explores issues related to the college readiness gap, identifying less-selective and open-access institutions as the most likely to be impacted. The authors provide policy recommendations for statewide efforts targeted to these most vulnerable groups, including a model college readiness agenda involving various stakeholders from the institutions to the governor and the development of high standards of mastery in reading, writing, and math regardless of students’ postsecondary education plans.

This toolkit from the U.S. Department of Education provides guidance for state leadership and policymakers as they work to improve college completion rates. It explores why and how to implement seven targeted strategies to increase student success. These strategies impact all phases of the college-going process and cover topics including aligning high school and college standards and using data to drive decision making.

As more focus is placed on the development and adoption of common standards and assessments, there exists the possibility to reevaluate how “college readiness” is both defined and measured. This brief provides recommendations on how best to design new college readiness measures that move beyond discrete content knowledge and strict cut scores toward a more comprehensive assessment of what is required for college and career success.

Within the larger Achieving the Dream Initiative, the Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) supports participant schools as they undertake reforms to reduce student dependence on developmental education. In furtherance of this goal, DEI created this self-assessment to help schools identify areas of strength and weakness across multiple dimensions. While created for Achieving the Dream schools, this tool may be useful to any school considering reforming their approach to developmental education.

The majority of California community college students are placed in remedial courses, thus delaying the earning of college credits and decreasing their chances of reaching completion. This report introduces diagnostic assessment as one tool for community college reform in California. The author discusses the lessons learned and implications from three states, and opportunities for K–14 alignment, especially as it relates to the Common Core State Standards.

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.

Dual enrollment is becoming increasingly popular as a means to improve student success; however, there is little evidence of its impact on student outcomes. This study, based on analysis of student data from two high school cohorts, examines the causal effects of dual enrollment course taking on marginal students. The author finds that simply taking a dual enrollment course has no impact on these students’ rates of high school graduation, college enrollment, or college degree attainment. However, for marginal students who took a dual enrollment course in college algebra, the impact revealed large and significant effects on college enrollment and graduation rates.

As states are building more robust K–16 data systems for improving student outcomes, there is a need for a common approach to interpret the data. This report describes a set of key indicators of community college student progression and completion benchmarks intended for practitioners and policymakers to use in their reform efforts to increase student achievement. Developed by the Achieving the Dream Cross-State Data Work Group, the final benchmarks, plus interim indicators, enable states and institutions to track student progress toward college completion. The report discusses how interim indicators can identify students in need of intervention to get them back on track, and how the set of measures makes possible cross-state comparisons for those institutions that are committed to making data transparent.

Students who begin college taking credit-bearing coursework are more likely to reach completion than students who begin taking remedial classes. This study examines 133 Texas college readiness partnership programs, which are designed to prepare high school students for college-level work. In addition to categorizing the programs into one of two types — those focused on academic subjects and those focused on college knowledge — the report describes features of these programs, targeted students, and intended outcomes. The authors discuss key characteristics of the partnerships between high schools and colleges toward identifying promising practices to better support the pathway for college-bound students.

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.

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.

Too many students enter community college needing developmental education, and many are at risk of leaving school before ever reaching college-level coursework. This brief describes how 15 states participating in the Achieving the Dream initiative have concentrated their efforts to change state policy in four broad strategies aimed at improving outcomes for underprepared students: preventative strategies, assessment and placement, implementation and evaluation of program innovation, and performance measurement and incentives. Collins shares results and lessons learned from the innovations and promising practices of high-performing institutions and the critical role that state policy plays in developing the conditions that support change.

Drawing from the EdSource research study, Course-taking patterns, policies, and practices in developmental education in the California Community Colleges, this report examines how California’s community colleges can adjust developmental education programs to help students succeed in the face of new and stricter completion standards. In addition to encouraging innovation in developmental education policies and practices, the authors suggest developing common, statewide standards for college readiness to reduce the number of students requiring remediation.

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.

The developmental education process is fraught with challenges that act as barriers to student success. This report proposes a framework comprising three sets of opposing forces for understanding the dysfunction of the developmental system. The authors outline the framework and then, using CUNY as a case study, describe how each of the three sets of tensions shape policies, practices, and student progression patterns in developmental education. Finally, based on the CUNY case study, the authors discuss suggestions for reconciling the opposing forces involving consistency with flexibility, efficient assessment aligned with treatment, and support for progression while maintaining academic standards.

Developed over two years with the assistance of more than 400 faculty and staff members from research universities, this report provides a detailed guideline of necessary skills in six areas of study: English, mathematics, second languages, natural sciences, social sciences, and the arts. For each subject area, the report also provides a set of recommended standards that can be used to determine skill mastery. The report notes that skills should be acquired as part of a larger learning experience that sharpens cognitive skills.

The traditional use of placement exams for incoming college students may actually act as a barrier to college completion, misassigning students into developmental education who really don’t need remediation. Using information from a Jobs for the Future convening, involving state officials and community college leaders along with interviews and analysis, this report examines how emerging research is challenging assumptions about placement tests as an accurate data source for determining college readiness. The author describes innovative approaches that some states are taking with placement exams and presents them in three broad categories: Downplaying the tests, Changing the tests, and Supporting students around the tests. Lastly, the author discusses key issues of cost, time, and validity as related to reforming the use of placement tests.