The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how the staff of campus-based programs that support foster youth describe the program interventions as they influence student competency, autonomy, and relatedness at a community college. This study employed the self-determination theory (SDT) as a lens to better understand the needs…

To the extent that community college leadership seeks to provide access and equity to traditionally underrepresented groups, summer science bridge programs attempt to provide access to underrepresented science students. The problem addressed by the researcher is the impact of grade point average or science degree attainment of community college…

The objective of this study was to describe the relationship between stress, weight-related health risk behaviors (e.g., eating behaviors, physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep, cigarette smoking, and binge drinking), and weight status using cross-sectional data on 2-year community college students enrolled in a randomized controlled weight…

Background: Young adults are at risk for weight gain. Little is known about how to design weight control programs to meet the needs of young adults and few theory-based interventions have been evaluated in a randomized control trial. The Choosing Healthy Options in College Environments and Settings (CHOICES) study was funded to create a…

Remediation has become one of the greatest barriers to student success and disproportionately affects the persistence and retention rates of African American community college students. Nearly 70% of the African American students at community colleges required remediation, which results in low persistence and graduation rates for these students.…

For the past decade, MDRC has evaluated a number of interventions designed to improve the outcomes of community college students, including enhanced counseling, learning communities, and financial incentives. Encouragingly, many of these strategies have produced positive effects, affirming that changes in institutional practices and policies can…

Approximately half of students at the community college level leave the institution before degree completion. Community college students are more likely than four-year students to be first-generation students, attend school part-time, be less prepared academically, work full-time, have family responsibilities, and have entered college later in…

MDRC launched the Opening Doors demonstration to test four distinct interventions that were designed to help more students persist in community college and accomplish their academic and personal goals. This report describes the impacts of a performance-based scholarship program with a counseling component on academic success and persistence among…

Community colleges face struggles in helping students meet their academic, career, and personal goals. Student affairs practitioners can be innovators by creating initiatives to engage students. Practitioners can act as a bridge between student and academic affairs. This article explores how a group of counselors redefined their roles by designing…

In 2004, Lumina Foundation for Education launched "Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count," a national initiative aimed at improving success among community college students, particularly low-income students and students of color. Now encompassing more than 130 institutions in 24 states and the District of Columbia, Achieving the…

Achieving the Dream colleges engage in a process of institutional improvement to increase student success. A central component of this process is engaging internal and external stakeholders to help develop and implement interventions or changes in programs and services that improve student success. To determine whether these interventions do…

This report describes the background, objectives, and design of the Opening Doors evaluation. It begins below with a brief review of the research on community college students and their experiences. Chapter 2 then provides a general description of the six colleges that are participating in the demonstration and the four interventions that are…

Offering new perspectives on academic advising in community colleges, this book defines developmental academic advising, describes the organization and delivery of advising services, and discusses key components of effective programs. The following 10 chapters are included: (1) "Developmental Academic Advising," by Thaddeus M. Raushi,…