Beginning this fall, students who take the MATH 021 Introductory Algebra course at Brookdale Community College in New Jersey will no longer have to buy a traditional textbook. Instead, thanks to a new college-wide Open Educational Resources (OER) initiative, students will be able to download and print a free copy of the college’s new MATH […]
Completion Articles
Pathway to a bachelor’s degree
About 41 percent of community college associate-degree completers go on to earn a bachelor’s degree. That’s according to a new Snapshot Report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The report looks at the 2010-11 academic year, during which 575,067 associate degrees were earned by students with no previous degrees or certificates. “Within the next […]
Year-round Pell opens opportunities for students
Getting Congress to approve the use of Pell grants for programs outside the traditional academic calendar was a top legislative priority of the American Association of Community Colleges and was highlighted in AACC’s successful #PellYes campaign on social media. Year-round Pell was available in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic years, until budget constraints prompted lawmakers […]
Reaching for the stars
California has started a new program to recognize career education programs at the state’s community colleges. Strong Workforce Stars celebrates programs in which students show significant gains in factors important for advancing social mobility – earnings increase, attainment of a living wage and a job closely matched with the field of study. More than 100 […]
Accounting for everyone
In business, accountability is key. Companies are accountable to their boards, shareholders, and customers. They’re accountable to their mission. It’s no different in higher education, and for public institutions, accountability extends to their funders, including state and federal governments. Since their beginning more than a century ago, community colleges were known for being open-access institutions. […]
Connecting to STEM
Since 2014, MassBay Community College’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Mentor Program has been connecting STEM students and regional employers for one-on-one mentoring relationships. The program provides substantive, skills-based programs and networking opportunities that benefit both mentors and mentees. The STEM Mentor Program includes meetings between mentors and mentees, as well as group activities, […]
Accelerating opportunity for low-skilled students
The Accelerating Opportunity (AO) initiative is designed to transform how states work with their adult education programs and community colleges to provide training for underprepared adult learners. AO career pathway programs enable more low-income adults to complete postsecondary credentials for in-demand jobs by giving them an opportunity to enroll in career and technical education courses […]
Report roundup
Here are three reports you should know about this month. The American Council on Education’s survey of U.S. college and university presidents shows that presidents from associate-degree granting institutions are, overall, more diverse and younger than presidents from other types of institutions. Thirty-six percent of associate college presidents are women and 20 percent are minorities. […]
Doing the math
Butler Community College is revolutionizing math in Kansas. In order to help students be more successful and complete college algebra, Butler will introduce math in a modular format. The new approach to teaching and learning math will launch this fall. This curriculum is designed to remove math as a barrier to completing a degree. These […]
A new kind of Signing Day
Twelve high school seniors took part recently in Northeast Community College’s inaugural Career and Technical Education (CTE) Letter of Intent Signing Day in front of family, friends, prospective employers and college employees. It had all the earmarks of an athletic signing, but the students signed their intentions to complete a CTE program at Northeast. All […]