As college promise programs proliferate across the United States with noted intentions to promote access through increased affordability, it is necessary to understand the relationship between these programs and other forms of financial aid, including loans. Using federal, state, and program-level data, we leverage a natural experiment to estimate…

This report presents the findings of the cost-benefit analysis of Accelerating Opportunity, an initiative designed to help adults with low basic skills earn industry-recognized credentials in high-growth occupations and succeed in the labor market. It compares the value of the benefits associated with AO--principally labor market benefits--with…

For southern New England, the middle-skills gap is projected to become acute by 2020, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Historically and currently, the middle-skills labor pool in Massachusetts has been significantly below national rates and has been recently experiencing a decline. Closing the middle-skills gap depends on improving…

The second annual implementation report for the Accelerating Opportunity (AO) initiative in four states finds that: (1) colleges aligned pathways and supports with local needs; (2) students were satisfied with AO; (3) AO instructors grew more adept at team teaching; (4) colleges struggled to recruit adult education students; (5) states and…

The expense of attending college is one factor that may explain why low-income students often drop out of school. In California, despite generous state aid and relatively low fees at community colleges, many low-income students still have substantial college-related costs that they cannot cover. To compound matters, federal support for students…

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…

The passage of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which extended need-based financial assistance to the general population for the first time, has improved college access for American students, but more work remains to be done to improve college success. According to government statistics, in 2006, about one in six students had earned a degree or…

In September 2007, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) officially launched the Student Achievement Initiative, a system-wide policy to reward colleges for improvements in student achievement. Developed by a task force comprised of State Board members, college trustees, presidents, and faculty representatives,…

Using a longitudinal, state-wide dataset, this study assessed the effect of financial aid on the persistence of full-time students in associate's degree programs at the Oklahoma community colleges. Three financial-aid sources were examined: the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP), Pell grants, and Stafford loans. Results indicate that…

This report assesses the current status of international and global education at California community colleges (CCC), and provides a review of the literature in an effort to help inform future policy discussions and recommendations on funding and state support. There were five steps involved in this study: (1) creation of the Alliance on…

Faculty and staff development (FSD) programs in the California community colleges currently receive funding under the California Assembly Bill (AB) 1725, which has distributed approximately $5 million each year since 1989 to districts on an enrollment-based formula. A study was conducted which surveyed FSD programs statewide to assess program…

California's community colleges develop their own requests in concert with their district five-year master plan. They then submit those requests to the State Chancellor's Office for review. This document discusses the current process of submitting proposals for collaborative facilities projects, and outlines and discusses five recommendations for…

In 1996, the Florida State Board of Community Colleges conducted a review of English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in the state's community colleges to determine the status of instruction for degree-seeking Limited English Proficient (LEP) students and make recommendations for institutional and state-level policies. The process included a…

Prepared to highlight the accomplishments of the Florida State Board of Community Colleges during its first five years of existence, this report reviews the Board's development and the progress of Florida's 28 community colleges. Following introductory comments on the creation and purposes of the board, the report looks at the Board's legislative…

In 1989, a study was conducted to evaluate the effect which Assembly Bill (AB) 1725 funds had on faculty and staff development activities in the California community colleges. All 107 community colleges were surveyed to identify the four "most useful activities funded under AB 1725" and the "single greatest problem a college has…