Many students drop out of college not because they fall short academically but because they can’t pay the bill. Scholarship programs such as the one at Shoreline Community College, in Washington state, have the potential to improve completion rates by providing free tuition to high school graduates who are ready for college but are unable […]

As a community college president, I often meet with alumni to ask them about their experience at our institution and what mattered most to their success. Without exception, they never talk about a lecture, formula, theory or skill that they learned in class. Instead, they talk about that one faculty or staff member who made […]

In 2010, as part of the reaccreditation process, officials at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) asked graduates for feedback about their experiences at the school. Students thought the teaching was great but that advising needed improvement, says George Gabriel, vice president of Institutional Research and Student Success Initiatives. As an Achieving the Dream institution, NOVA’s […]

For the past 11 years, Renton Technical College (RTC), in Washington state, has been spearheading a teaching approach that might reform remedial education. The approach — called Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) — combines college-readiness coursework and credit-bearing job training or academic classes. “The classes are taught by a two-person team,” says Jodi […]

Access U, a program between Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) and the University of Utah, guarantees students admission and an annual $2,000 scholarship to the University of Utah after graduating from SLCC. It also offers support services to help keep students on the path toward completion and transfer. “We got the right people together and […]

Just before Ric Baser took the helm at Northwest Vista College late last year, the college doubled the number of advisers, creating a ratio of one adviser to every 150 students. He referred to the strategy in yesterday’s leadership post. Today, we take a closer look at the Alamo Advise model, and how and why […]

When it comes to funding actionable plans to help college students complete degrees, Lumina Foundation is a major player. One of its completion strategies has involved the creation of an urban-focused, community-based attainment network to align community colleges with local business and civic initiatives. To understand Lumina’s goals and to see how it is doing […]

A Jobs for the Future (JFF) initiative to put low-skilled adult learners on the fast track to obtaining college credentials and career training is making great strides, according to a report, released in late March, that assesses the project’s second year. Five states — Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and North Carolina — are taking part […]

A financial aid system that dispenses award money only in the fall and spring and rarely counts nontraditional courses as eligible credit hours may not be serving the average community college student well. In Community College Online, a recent policy paper, New America senior policy analyst Rachel Fishman states that the expansion of innovative course […]

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center recently released compelling new data on student completion rates, showing that 13 percent of students who attended four-year institutions across the nation finished at different schools than where they began. In terms of community colleges, one in three students who enrolled at a two-year public institution finished at a […]