In this study I deployed quasi-experimental methods to explore enrollment responses to a unique statewide college promise program for adult students attending college within the two-year public postsecondary education sector in Tennessee. State policymakers implemented Tennessee Reconnect in 2018 to encourage adult students without a college…

This article examines the impact of proactive, data-informed success coaching on students' retention and completion outcomes, drawing on theories of student engagement and a five-year (2016-2020), mixed-methods study of coaching conducted across 10 North Carolina community colleges. Results from a randomized controlled trial show that coaching…

As of 2016, women of color held only 7% of the total number of presidential positions in the nation's 1,043 community colleges. The lack of women of color in senior-level leadership positions is rooted in four causes: work and family imbalances, gender and racial biases and stereotypes in the workplace, lack of mentoring, and lack of earned…

"Three Big Lessons in Six Years" is both a reflection on the past and a look ahead to the future at Charlestown (C-Town) High School (Boston, Massachusetts) and other early college programs across the country. The purpose of this series is to document essential design elements, operational structures, and critical support for students to…

This study examines formerly incarcerated student programming from practitioner perspectives at California community colleges. The following research questions guide the study: 1) How has the pandemic and concurrent sociopolitical contexts influence the way staff, faculty, and administrators approach their work? 2) How do practitioners describe…

The City University of New York (CUNY) is the largest urban public university system in the United States with approximately 100,000 students enrolled in associate degree programs. Similar to trends nationwide, many associate degree students come to CUNY underprepared for college-level classes and are assigned to take remedial or developmental…

While research has documented outcomes for students served by promise programs, few studies have considered the behavior of institutions themselves in the promise era. A new source of revenue combined with larger and more diverse cohorts is likely to motivate changes in spending and staffing--decisions instrumental to student access and success.…

Dual enrollment allows high school students to participate in college courses, earning both high school and college credits. Although many high schools offer dual enrollment to all students, past research has demonstrated a significant gap in the participation of low-income students and students of color compared to their White and Asian…

The Accountability Plan is an annual report that is closely aligned with the Board of Governors' 2025 System Strategic Plan. This report enhances the System's commitment to accountability and strategic planning by fostering greater coordination between institutional administrators, University Boards of Trustees and the Board of Governors regarding…

Background: Undergraduate research programs have been shown to have positive effects on student outcomes like retention and academic achievement. This study contributes to the very limited body of causal research on mentored undergraduate research programs (also known as apprentice-style research experiences, or AREs) by measuring the short- and…

Guided pathways, a program that aims to improve college completion and student success through remodeling of the student journey, supports learners in choosing a program of study, ideally resulting in transfer to a four-year school or the start of a lucrative career with a two-year degree. Colleges that employ a guided pathways model are seeing…

Recently, apprenticeships have re-emerged as an effective means of preparing young people for the 21st-century workplace (Browning & Nickoli, 2017; OECD, 2018). Especially, community colleges have been actively implementing modern apprenticeships within their degree programs by offering degree apprenticeships (DAs). The purpose of this…

This article provides the first causal evidence of a system-wide corequisite reform in Tennessee, which mainstreams underprepared students into college-level courses with concurrent support. Using regression discontinuity and difference-in-regression-discontinuity designs, we find that, for those on the margin of college level, students placed…

Research shows that employers play a key role in work-based learning (WBL) programs such as internships but are seldom involved in conversations around the topic (Greenfield & Stevens, 2018). While the benefits of work-based learning are well documented, employers are often unaware of the benefits they would receive from participating in an…

The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) is recognized as a leader in Basic Writing reform for community colleges due to their Accelerated Learning Program (ALP). The features Adams et al. adapted from various programs to better support CCBC students, particularly the central features of mainstreaming and acceleration, have helped reinvent…