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…

Multiple studies show that outcomes, whether they be better degree completion rates or successful short-term workforce training, are negatively affected by inadequate funding (Kahlenberg, 2015). To bolster their case for underfunding, researchers and college advocacy groups produce studies that rely on an important federal dataset--the Integrated…

The federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program, which provided nearly $2 billion over four years to help community colleges meet employers' needs more effectively was a response to the 2008 recession. Distributed by the U.S. Department of Labor, the original TAACCCT funding brought colleges…

This paper contends that state bans on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices are indicative of a broader political agenda to restrict scholarly analyses and practitioner outreach that reveal how societal inequities, policy failures, and racialized deficit framings of marginalized students--not perceived…

In this study, we used data from a cohort of 4,033 Tulsa kindergarten students to investigate the relationship between pre-K enrollment and later college enrollment. Specifically, we tested whether participation in the Tulsa Public Schools universal pre-K program and the Tulsa Community Action Project (CAP) Head Start program predicted enrollment…

This article compares state expenditure data to see how the operating budgets of public community colleges specifically, and public higher education institutions generally, have fared over the past 30 years. Data from the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) have long tracked major state expenditure categories, including the…

In this article, the authors describe two independent efforts at "flipping" introductory economics courses employing econlowodown.org resources from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. From an instructor's perspective, it is relatively simple to locate the high-quality free resources available online and assign them to students. Their…

Funded grant projects all involve some form of evaluation, and Advanced Technological Education (ATE) grants are no exception. Program evaluation serves as a critical component not only for evaluating if a project has met its intended and desired outcomes, but the evaluation process is also a central feature of the grant application itself.…

In January 2015, President Obama captured headlines in the US by announcing America's College Promise (ACP), a policy that would reverse four decades of privatisation in higher education by making community colleges 'tuition-free'. This research explores the conversation that unfolded across the Facebook pages of various media sources. Key phrases…

This qualitative research study describes how a Midwest community college's implementation of an Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (SSTEM) program influences engineering identity development for its students with financial need. Using a phenomenological approach, the study finds that the program enables community…

Purpose: America's College Promise (ACP) is a legislative initiative introduced by President Obama to increase access to higher education, to build the economy, and to support his earlier American Graduation Initiative. This legislation has the potential to settle among the ranks of the most influential federal higher education aid and access…

"Liberal Education" spoke with two higher education policy experts on what they expect and hope for from the Biden administration. Viviann Anguiano is an associate director for postsecondary education at the Center for American Progress. Eric R. Felix is an assistant professor at San Diego State University, specializing in higher…

Community colleges always have played an integral role in training workers for infrastructure- and transportation-related fields like truck driving, construction, welding and electrical work. If the $1 trillion infrastructure package proposed by President Donald Trump comes to pass, these fields will grow significantly, at least for a while, which…

The context and variables that affect at-risk students are constantly changing. It is imperative that school counselors understand the risk factors for students and the cultural and social contexts the individual lives within. Working with at-risk students is even more challenging with the millennial generation. The culture in this generation…

In this National Science Foundation Advanced Technician Education program (NSF ATE) project, we aimed to explore factors that would strengthen the rural IT employee workforce and improve educational support related to broadband, telecommunications, and networks in rural settings. Using multiple methods to triangulate rural IT program curricula…