Although there is no federal mandate that prohibits unauthorized students from enrolling in postsecondary institutions in the United States, the rising cost of attendance and inconsistent admissions policies have served as barriers for unauthorized students (Gonzalez, 2007, 2009; Perez, 2010). For this reason, states with large concentrations of…

The Linking Learning to Careers (LLC) program offered high school students with disabilities an individualized and targeted approach to strategically plan for their futures. The Vermont Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (DVR) designed LLC to build on its usual services for high school students to emphasize unpaid and paid work-based learning…

Many youth in America are not on track for labor market success. One factor that increases the risk of poor labor market outcomes among these youth is dropping out of school (Rumberger 2020). Youth who drop out of school are at greater risk for job instability and for lower longterm earnings (Hair et al. 2009). They are also more likely to…

Summer bridge programs have long been utilized by postsecondary institutions to improve the college readiness of students; however, the research on their effectiveness is limited. This study presents evidence from an experimental study of one summer bridge program model specifically designed for recent high school graduates who placed into…

One of the driving forces behind the design of the Pathways to Results (PTR) initiative is to dismantle and redesign systems to produce equitable outcomes. This notion of systems producing the exact outcomes for which they were designed can also be applied to the Pathways to Results methodology itself. After five years of leading PTR initiatives…

Postsecondary education and credentials are key to economic mobility for individuals and economic competitiveness for our nation. Although the economic return to credentials varies significantly by field of study, generally workers with higher levels of education have higher wages, work more hours, and suffer lower rates and shorter durations of…

This article examines the case of how the City University of New York (CUNY)--its central administrative offices and two of its community colleges--has addressed the issue of college access for undocumented immigrants in its implementation of New York's college in-state resident tuition (ISRT) policy for this population. It highlights the role of…

This special issue of Research in Comparative and International Education investigates the spread and development of two-year and community college institutions worldwide. While not all post-secondary education falls within the scope or definition of community colleges, both post-secondary and community college education tend to serve the needs of…

A growing number of community colleges and four-year universities are seeking to improve student outcomes by redesigning academic programs and student support services following the guided pathways approach. These institutions are mapping out highly structured, educationally coherent program pathways for students to follow by starting with the end…

This report is Iowa's response to the four questions that the United States Department of Education, Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE), requires of all states and territories receiving federal funding through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Title II, Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA). The overall goal of…

In 2002, New York became the fourth state to offer in-state tuition to certain undocumented immigrants enrolling in its public postsecondary education institutions. Although enacted several years ago, the implementation of this legislation has never been examined. This qualitative single case study with embedded units explored how New York's…

With the national spotlight on community colleges, Wyoming is poised to become a leader through its efforts to align the programs of its seven community colleges with defined state interests. As local economies become more globally focused and knowledge-based, community colleges are a critical way for learners to gain access to postsecondary…

This study, a naturalistic inquiry conducted between 2002 and 2005, presents an integrated portrayal of issues and concerns of twenty-seven directors of postsecondary distributed/distance learning programs as well as the results of a survey that examined technology utilization and methods in 316 postsecondary schools. The major issues and concerns…

The initiation of the educational records and reports study by the Office of Education in 1951 marked a turning point in the Federal State teamwork approach toward providing a basis for complete, accurate, and comparable educational information. In cooperation with State education agencies and professional groups, three major handbooks of standard…