Colleges are increasingly open to partnering with private entities to implement new and innovative programs. Community colleges, in particular, may find such partnerships beneficial, given that these institutions often lack the necessary resources to invest up-front in programs that may yield strong long-term dividends. In this article we report…

Kristine H. Strickland reviews the variety of barriers on community college students' path to transfer and completion. Though community college transfer students can be as successful as transfer students from four-year institutions, Strickland argues that both two-year and four-year institutions need to do more to prepare students for transfer and…

This report examines the structural divide between for-credit and noncredit postsecondary education and the problems it presents for people seeking better jobs with higher pay. It highlights innovative ways that some community colleges are trying to bridge the gap nationally--creating more seamless pathways between credit and noncredit…

This article contributes to the literature addressing the needs of increasing student enrollment and retention across university campuses by identifying programs where progress can be made to improve the student retention rate and increase university enrollment. This article derives from a provisional program that began in the fall of 2009 at a…

Legislation passed in 2011 required the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC) to convene a Prior Learning Assessment Workgroup. The workgroup was tasked with coordinating and implementing seven goals, described in statute, to promote the award of college credit for prior learning. Awarding college credit for prior learning increases access…

Legislation passed in 2011 required the Washington Student Achievement Council to convene the Prior Learning Assessment Workgroup to coordinate and implement seven goals described in statute for promoting the award of college credit for prior learning. This report summarizes progress made in 2013 and also outlines a work plan of activities to be…

"Surprise" is a word and concept seldom associated with higher education policy or with one of its most demanding projects, the development of a statewide articulation and transfer program. Legislators who mandate articulation enterprises and officials who care for these behemoths present themselves as thoughtful managers who cherish…

Many states are experimenting with mechanisms for making college more affordable while maintaining quality and access. This report examines promising or innovative state programs to improve college affordability and credential attainment. Many of these approaches show innovative thinking and bear watching to see if they result in meaningful…

Among the diverse and varied missions of community colleges is the provision of instruction for students who have either been underserved by their previous educational institutions or not had the opportunity to complete high school. Included under this umbrella are low-performing high school students, individuals with low basic skills, and those…

Low rates of college completion have long been a major deficiency in the performance of American higher education. Over the last decade, the extent and importance of the problem was documented by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in the "Measuring Up" national and state report cards on higher education, and by…

Two-year colleges play an important role in facilitating transfers to four-year institutions. This has resulted in the demand to assess how well the community college systems train students for successful transfer to four-year bachelor-granting institutions. Existing datasets on two-year college transfer rates provides inconsistent and, sometimes,…

In spring 2012, after a year of intensive data analysis and planning, the colleges participating in Completion by Design announced strategies for creating clear, structured routes through college for more students, often referred to as accelerated, structured pathways to completion. These strategies contain elements unique to each college, but all…

This applied dissertation was designed to assess the effect of student participation in community college-based transfer advising programs on the resultant levels of effectiveness and economic efficiency in California's public higher education system. The outcomes of a representative transfer advising program at a California Community College…

State actions to increase college completion are growing, with 23 states (though not California) signed on to Complete College America, and other foundation-led initiatives involving still more states and college systems. These initiatives are helping states use data to understand how students, and which students, make, or fail to make, progress…

Examines course catalogs and class schedules from 26 California community colleges to determine the extent of non-liberal-arts course transferability to the California State University (CSU) and the University of California (UC). Finds that all of the subject areas experienced an increase in transferability to the CSU. In contrast, for the UC,…