This article presents three lessons from research by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) on strategies community colleges can use to improve completion rates while maintaining broad access and keeping costs low for students and taxpayers. I also identify two sets of data pointing to the potential returns to students and society that could be achieved from further reforms that lead to improved student outcomes. Finally, I discuss future research directions we at CCRC are pursuing as we seek to continue to help shape the community college improvement agenda.