The problem addressed in this study was the trend of students completing health sciences stackable credentials not pursuing the related health sciences associate degree after completing the stackable credential, despite the availability of the streamlined pathway. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study utilizing semi-structured…

Leaders in higher education experience high and unrealistic demands for their skills, time, and energy, causing stress, competing priorities, burnout, compromised health, and attrition. However, unlike other racial and gender groups, Black women higher education administrators experienced these challenges more intensely. As a result of chronic…

Climates inside and outside the classroom on community college campuses affect the sense of belonging for queer and trans students. The purpose of this interpretive inquiry was to understand how LGBTQ+ community college students described their sense of belonging at their respective institutions. Drawing upon Strayhorn's (2019) sense of belonging…

Purpose: Supporting community college transfer students represents a critical strategy for broadening participation in STEM. In addition to being a racially diverse group, students who pursue STEM degrees by way of community college report frequent interests in graduate study and academic careers. Thus, supporting and expanding transfer students'…

A new Master Plan for Higher Education is long overdue. California's landmark 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education served its time well, but a new plan is needed to better serve today's diverse and economically varied student population. The original plan sought to balance access to higher education with efficient use of state resources by…

Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms…

Objective/Research Question: Research indicates that work-life integration is linked with career satisfaction for women administrators in higher education. This study focused on midlevel women leaders who are an essential component of higher education organizations and asked the question: how do mid-level women leaders in rural community colleges…

Young adults today are the least happy demographic group, departing from a long-established U-shaped relationship between life satisfaction and age in many countries worldwide. The longstanding U-curve reflects the unhappiness and stress that most people experience in the midlife years as they juggle financial and family constraints while both the…

This report illustrates Kentucky's progress in reducing debt levels for undergraduate degree and credential completers at public postsecondary institutions, particularly over the last five years. These loan amounts are averages, and they are calculated in different ways (including and excluding students with no debt) and for different populations…

CUNY ASAP is a three-year program offering comprehensive student support, financial aid, and structured pathways. The program has served over 100,000 students since 2007 and been replicated across seven states. ASAP's primary goal is to increase the completion of college associate degrees. Specifically, the comprehensive intervention is expected…

Tuition-free college programs are gaining momentum as policymakers address rising college costs and workforce readiness. Despite their growing adoption, limited research examines how workforce-focused eligibility criteria impact student outcomes beyond enrollment. This pre-registered study employs two within-study quasi-experimental…

This study explored student success practices of select community colleges as implemented during students' pre- and post-matriculation periods and whether those colleges have united them into a cohesive design. The pre- and post-matriculation timeframe has been identified as the most critical segment of the student's academic career (Acevedo-Gil…

This paper examines the underutilization of Critical Race Theory (CRT) in addressing systemic racial inequities within community and technical colleges (CTCs). We argue that while diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are prevalent, CRT offers a more robust framework for understanding and dismantling systemic racism. We analyze…

Effective student onboarding provides a powerful tool for fostering student success, particularly for the diverse community college student population, including adult learners, full-time workers and dually-enrolled students. This brief explores how Catawba Valley Community College (Catawba Valley) redesigned its onboarding process by expanding…

This study examines the impact of interaction-oriented instructional practices on student performance and racial achievement gaps in college online courses. By linking survey data from almost 400 online instructors with student-level transcript records at a state community college system, we examine the relationship between six domains of…