Among community college leaders and others interested in reforms to improve student success, there is growing interest in adopting machine learning (ML) techniques to predict credential completion. However, ML algorithms are often complex and are not readily accessible to practitioners for whom a simpler set of near-term measures may serve as…

Objective: This study examines how accurately a small set of short-term academic indicators can approximate long-term outcomes of community college students so that decision-makers can take informed actions based on those indicators to evaluate the current progress of large-scale reform efforts on long-term outcomes, which in practice will not be…

The paper uses the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data system (IPEDS) data to simulate the 2020 American Graduation Initiative (AGI) goal introduced by President Obama in the summer of 2009. We estimate community college graduation rates and completion numbers under different scenarios that include the following sets of variables: (a) internal…

Prediction models using graduation rate as the performance indicator were obtained for community colleges in California, Florida, and Michigan. The results of this study indicated that institutional graduation rate could be predicted effectively from an aggregate of student and institutional characteristics. A performance measure was computed, the…

Community colleges continue to experience growth in online courses. This growth reflects the need to increase the numbers of students who complete certificates or degrees. Retaining online students, not to mention assuring their success, is a challenge that must be addressed through practical institutional responses. By leveraging existing student…

The paper describes how five indicators were developed to measure the comparative degree of commitment of a group of community colleges to their vocational-technical areas. The criteria of a "good" measure are developed, the findings of a pilot study are displayed, the indicators critiqued, and alternatives suggested. (Author)

A projection is provided of the Rancho Santiago Community College District's estimated future marginal costs of classroom teachers who, pursuant to California Assembly Bill 123, may retire using their highest 12 consecutive months' salary rather than the average of the 3 highest consecutive years as their final compensation. The projection was…

Comprehensive enrollment management (CEM) ensures that academic, student, and fiscal planning are done in concert in order to acknowledge the turbulence confronting an institution. A four-phase model of CEM has been developed that can be replicated at any college or university. In phase 1 of the model, the past 25 years of institutional enrollment…

The 2005 Task Force of the Chancellor's Consultation Council was created to recommend long-term strategies to identify access and service goals for California Community Colleges (CCC), the resources needed to achieve these goals, and ways to obtain needed resources. This technical paper provides the Task Force with forecasts of plausible scenarios…