Community colleges are an important entry point and pathway for students to obtain a postsecondary degree in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. To broaden STEM participation and increase STEM persistence, it is important to support community college students' college-level course completion and academic performance. This…

This manuscript focuses on student veterans' best option to start their post-high-school education: attending community colleges. It illustrates this point using the story of the author, a US Army combat veteran who began his career at a community college, and other veterans who also began their college careers at the community college. Using…

This chapter aims to extend conversations around educational equity by emphasizing the role of community college contexts as a mediator between policy reform and student experience. Narratives of Tennessee (TN) Reconnect Grant recipients indicate that community college contexts related to advising and student support services and enrollment,…

The rapid pace of technological change is revolutionizing every sector of the economy, transforming how value is created and delivered to consumers through technologies like robotics, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things. This transformation underscores the need for a diverse workforce as the new skills valued and…

Drawing from Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant evaluations and interviews with the field, this chapter includes examples of three cases that integrated advising and prior learning assessment for adults returning to education, and discusses the benefits and drawbacks of each approach.

This article presents a national snapshot of GI Bill student enrollment through examination of a repository of data on veterans' education benefits usage, institutional practices to support veterans, and consumer advocacy information (e.g., complaints and caution flags). Through examination of records from 2217 two-year institutions enrolling…

This chapter describes how Clark State Community College used its TAACCCT grant in manufacturing to help drive organizational changes in the college to better serve local workforce needs.

Ensuring that the federal investment in TAACCCT has a lasting legacy is important to community colleges and the nation. Exploring the notion of transformative change, this chapter describes research and development associated with the Transformative Change Initiative (TCI), including seven guiding principles to sustain and scale change in…

This chapter describes examples of Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training-funded innovations that resulted in statewide systemic change, including approaches to accelerate adult credential attainment, new approaches to data collection and analysis, enhanced individualized student support, and stronger industry alignment.

This chapter reviews the literature, gender and CTE, classroom climate, and faculty-student interactions and presents results of a qualitative study on gender microaggressions in community college CTE classrooms.

For more than two decades, the vision of a statewide system of student mobility has driven Ohio's articulation and transfer initiatives, which guarantee that specific courses will be applied to degrees and certificates at public two- and four-year postsecondary institutions. This chapter outlines how Ohio developed a comprehensive, guaranteed…

Looking beyond institutional strategies, the National Commission on Adult Literacy (2008) called for legislation that would make workforce preparation the primary goal of adult education, including addressing education for unemployed and lower-skilled workers, and other adult groups historically underserved by higher education. Further, state…

Throughout the nation's history, immigrants have come to the United States seeking opportunities for socioeconomic mobility, to strengthen family ties, or secure personal freedom. To leave the familiar landscape is not a decision made lightly and, once having resettled in their new home, immigrants face choices that may relegate them to the…

Shifting Gears was launched in 2007 by the Joyce Foundation, a Chicago-based organization focused on improving the quality of life of citizens residing in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The primary goal of Shifting Gears is to increase the number of low-skilled, low-income Midwestern adults who obtain college-level occupational…

The end of the twentieth century heralded a period of anxiety among community college trustees and leaders over impending shortfalls in leadership positions. The tremendous growth of public community colleges in the 1960s made them particularly susceptible to the retirement of aging baby boomers. To assist in developing and selecting professionals…