Congolese/Zairean immigrant community college students face challenges at a US community college setting. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive research was to understand participants' description of their encounters. Theories helped understand the phenomenon under research. Ogbu and Simons (1998) Cultural Ecology Theory was used to…

As a partner with the City University of New York (CUNY) on the Transfer Opportunity Project, MDRC's Center for Applied Behavioral Science (CABS) team used behavioral mapping to help identify the malleable factors (that is, the factors subject to change) that impede student transfer. MDRC and CUNY researchers conducted nearly 50 interviews and…

A baccalaureate education was once limited to an elite population of high school graduates in pursuit of guaranteed career success. Today, more than 70% of high school graduates opt to attend college to earn a baccalaureate degree, due to economic, global, and technological changes. While this percent has significantly risen, employers are…

11 community colleges in New Jersey and two Historically Black Community Colleges (one in Alabama and one in Mississippi) joined the OnPath project, which had the goal to help community college students stay enrolled during the pandemic. OnPath facilitated a powerful combination of people and knowledge by bringing together college staff members…

The number of minority, particularly Latino, students attending community colleges is on the rise in the United States. Such students frequently lack academic preparation and financial resources. These difficulties, when added to family obligations, often require that minority students attend institutions that offer the most flexible…

Developed by the Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC), Caring Campus is at once a reform effort that colleges engage in to improve the daily experience of their students and an approach aimed at influencing the norms, values, practices, beliefs, and assumptions that comprise the culture of a college. Drawing on interviews with the presidents…

This study examines the impact of a "natural experiment" that gave students the choice to place into or out of developmental math because of an unintended mistake made by a community college. During self-placement, more students chose to enroll in gateway college- and transfer-level math courses, however, greater proportions of female,…

This was a mixed methods study that examined the developmental education program at an urban public Maryland community college. The data were collected from interviews with a former English Chair, a former Math Chair, and the Director of Institutional Research. Each was selected because of his and her expertise. Data were also collected from one…

The authors have developed a theory of simulation game design (Multiple Identification Theory; MIT) based on earlier research and several of their own studies. They utilize this theory to create a simulation game designed to change attitudes from a stance of competition to one of cooperation. Three questionnaires are constructed that measure…

This qualitative collective case study explored the experiences of faculty members in the social and behavioral sciences and SLO coordinators at community colleges in California as they engaged in student learning outcomes assessment (SLOA). Semi-structured interviews with eight faculty members and five student learning outcomes coordinators…

Nearly 40 percent of the students entering 2- and 4-year postsecondary institutions indicated their intention to major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in 2012. But the barriers to students realizing their ambitions are reflected in the fact that about half of those with the intention to earn a STEM bachelor's degree and…

This study investigated the effectiveness of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Pathways Project in the Florida College System. The project, devised as a means of turning a new corner in community college success, sought to improve lackluster persistence, retention, completion, and success rates in America's community colleges.…

Nationwide, only 24 percent of community college students earn a degree or certificate within three years of matriculat­ing. Students who enroll in summer classes at the end of the freshman year are more likely to persist and graduate. Summer enrollment enables students to earn additional credits, reducing the time it takes to earn a degree.…

One of the missions of California Community Colleges (CCCs) is to provide career and technical education (CTE) to students that will prepare them for the workforce. Major funding for CTE programs comes from grant monies that are tied to the condition that institutions must demonstrate an effort to increase the participation and completion rates of…

An increasing number of community colleges in the United States are becoming baccalaureate-granting institutions. Proponents of the community college baccalaureate (CCB) argue that the CCB provides students with access to higher education, while others argue the CCB will compromise the community college's core values. The purpose of this study…