A national survey by Royall & Company, a division of the Education Advisory Board, found that of more than 8,500 college-bound students, more than half of minority, first-generation and low-income students found personal letters and text messages helpful when choosing a college, compared with other college-bound high school students. It’s no surprise, then, that an […]

By making the instruction in its most popular courses more active and relevant, Wallace Community College (WCC), in Alabama, has boosted completion rates and closed achievement gaps among at-risk students. Now, leaders aim to build on this success with a campuswide completion initiative called “Getting the Tassel.” Dean of Instructional Affairs Tony Holland says the […]

The Aspen Institute recently announced 150 community colleges eligible for the 2017 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The prize recognizes community colleges that have achieved strong student outcomes in four primary areas: certificate and degree completion, student learning, employment and earnings, and success for minority and low-income students. While each eligible institution has proved […]

When Georgia Lorenz first heard about Stanford’s PERTS Lab a few years ago, she was intrigued. PERTS stands for the Project for Education Research That Scales, and Santa Monica College (SMC), in California, was looking for ways to increase student achievement. “PERTS offers quick, online programs that are research-based and designed to help students succeed, […]

Jobs for the Future (JFF) recently announced a commitment by The Kresge Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to invest $2.5 million to create five new Student Success Centers in Hawaii, New York, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington state. Seven such centers already exist in other states; the latest additions support the notion […]

In January, the Community College Research Center (CCRC), The Aspen Institute and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released Tracking Transfer: New measures of Institutional and State Effectiveness in Helping Community College Students Attain Bachelor’s Degrees. The report offers insight on states with a robust transfer pipeline from community colleges to four-year schools. We recently […]

Editor’s Note: As part of a series of profiles focusing on Pathways Project participants, we’re taking a look at how Columbus State Community College, in Ohio, is approaching the challenge of leading students to a four-year college or a career. Columbus State Community College’s focus on building clear pathways to a four-year degree began about […]

In 2010, then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law the Student Transfer Achievement Reform Act, which required the California Community Colleges (CCC) and California State University (CSU) systems to work together to smooth out the transfer process and give students with associate degrees priority at California state institutions. Since academic year 2011­–12, a record number […]

Editor’s Note: As part of a series of profiles focusing on Pathways Project participants, the following is a look at how Cleveland State Community College, in Tennessee, approaches the challenge of leading students to a career or a four-year college. Cleveland State Community College President Bill Seymour sees his college’s work in building structured pathways […]

Editor’s Note: Both Oregon and Tennessee are expecting or have already seen an increase in students because of tuition-free community college. In this two-part series, we take a look at how each state is focusing on the students’ first year. Having removed a key barrier to community college access, the Tennessee Promise program — which […]