Here are three reports that you should know about this month.

1. According to Time to Degree: A National View of the Time Enrolled and Elapsed for Associate and Bachelor’s Degree Earners, a report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 7 percent of associate-degree earners who attend community college full time complete their degree within two years while more than half finish within four or more years. The report also illustrates how the time to completion could be influenced by the pathway the student follows.
2. Diverse Pathways to STEM Degree Completion from the Association of Public & Land-Grant Universities focuses on the importance of relationships between staff and faculty at two- and four-year institutions, particularly when it comes to helping minority males transition from a community college to earn a four-year degree in science, math, engineering or mathematics. The report’s writers state, “Perhaps the most important were the relationships between program faculty and staff in the universities and their partner professionals in the community college.”
3. The National Center for Education Statistics’ new report, Remedial Coursetaking at U.S. Public 2- and 4-Year Institutions: Scope, Experience, and Outcomes, shows that college readiness continues to be an issue. At community colleges, nearly half of incoming students took two or more remedial courses and 26 percent took remedial courses across several subjects between 2003 and 2009, according to the report.