Community colleges in the United States are faced with several challenges, one of which is increasing the percentage of students that earn an associate degree. Research (American Association of Community Colleges, 2012; Amey, 2005; Eddy, 2010; Roueche, 2008) suggests that community college administrators need to think, act, manage, and lead in…

Prior research studies associated the employment of part-time faculty with student degree and/or certificate completion (Benjamin, 2002; Ehrenberg & Zhang, 2005; Jacoby, 2006; Leslie & Gappa, 2002; Umbach, 2008; Umbach & Wawrzynski, 2005). To date, institutional-level data have been utilized to investigate whether such employment…

Lack of financial resources to pay for postsecondary education--perceived and actual--has been cited as a barrier to student access and persistence, particularly for Latino students. This study investigates the following question: "To what extent does financial aid affect the educational attainment of Latinos enrolled in Associate's degree…

Over a two-year period beginning in March 2004, community colleges in Maryland developed a revised set of accountability indicators for a state-mandated Performance Accountability Report first required by a 1988 statute. A major innovation was a new model for assessing student degree progress. This article explains the development and components…