The Colorado Re-Engaged (CORE) initiative, created under House Bill 21-1330, allows a four-year institution of higher education (IHE) to award an associate degree to former students who meet eligibility requirements -- including having already earned at least 70 credit hours before stopping-out of a bachelor's program. Under HB21-1330, each…

The purpose of this study was to explore constituent perspectives of the California Community Colleges Historically Black Colleges and Universities Transfer Guarantee Program. The researcher queried representatives from participating community colleges and Historically Black Colleges and Universities regarding their perspectives of the program.…

In community colleges in the United States, graduation rates remain frustratingly low. Students face many challenges, including the financial costs of attending college; the demands of school, work, and family; complex institutional systems; underfunded student support services; and insufficient preparation for college-level work. To address these…

Two-year community college (CC) students face many barriers for recruitment and retention into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields and vertical transfer to 4-year universities (4YUs). Experiential learning, mentoring, and cohort building are effective mechanisms for increasing STEM recruitment and retention, and close…

NC Reconnect, an effort of the John M. Belk Endowment (JMBE), aims to engage or reengage adult learners over the age of 25 in North Carolina's community colleges to bridge the postsecondary education attainment gap and improve economic mobility within the state. This paper applies the Five P Framework to examine processes at 15 community colleges…

Getting a head start on college coursework in high school has become an even more important goal for high school students in recent years, due in part to the rising costs of obtaining traditional four-year college degrees coupled with the disruptions in learning for high school and college students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now more than ever,…

Using a case study approach, this qualitative study was an examination of a California community college's counseling faculty perspectives on a collegewide reform known as guided pathways (GP). Relying on semistructured interviews, the examination focused on how the counseling faculty perceived their roles in the GP implementation process, the…

Administrative burden, or the frictions individuals experience in accessing public programs, has implications for whether and which eligible individuals receive aid. While prior research documents barriers to accessing federal financial aid, less is known about the extent to which state aid programs impose administrative burden, how administrative…

Research suggests that community college alumni may be underrepresented within PhD programs. As such, we implemented and evaluated the Community College to PhD (CC2PhD) Scholars Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. CC2PhD was a 7-month undergraduate research and PhD preparation program for community college sophomores in the…

This qualitative case study examines, through an educational equity lens, the motivation, challenges, and assessment associated with international program development as appraised by the faculty and administrators in a district of multiple community colleges. To this end, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four faculty members and…

The Post-Traditional Remedial Learner in higher education is a student constituency that has historically been "Hidden in Plain Sight" and strikingly absent from substantive discussions that foreground their lived experiences, relevance, and success in post-secondary education. Though physically present on campus and numerically…

This qualitative study aims to establish a knowledge base and learn about the experience of first-generation transfer students who have completed their Associate in Art (AA) degree from a community college and have transitioned to a four-year public university. The study aims to examine first-generation transfer students' sense of belonging and…

Student food insecurity is associated with lower grades, depression, higher perceived stress and lower graduation rates. Campuses across the country are responding to the problem in a variety of ways, including distribution of food directly to students through food pantries. This research is based on a national survey of campus food pantries to…

This paper presents findings from a randomized controlled trial studying a comprehensive program designed to support students in achieving their goals. One Million Degrees (OMD) is a nonprofit organization serving community college students in the Chicago metro area that supports students financially, academically, personally, and professionally.…

This article examines how states and community colleges can streamline the transfer process through an innovative national program known as Interstate Passport. The program enables block transfer of lower-division general education attainment based on a set of learning outcomes rather than on individual courses and credits. The article shows how…