Although diverse patterns of college enrollment have gained attention in recent years, few studies have looked at students who take courses at four-year and two-year colleges simultaneously. Using a propensity score matching approach to compare outcomes of four-year college students who earned up to 10 credits at two-year colleges, termed…

The "college for all" ethos pervasive in American education, combined with open admission policies at community colleges, has allowed academically underprepared students to persist from high school to college. We ask: how do college advisors help academically underprepared students navigate decisions about their careers and upcoming…

Dual credit coursework has become a popular strategy to bolster the college completion agenda, yet research on program implementation is scarce. This qualitative interview study uses complexity theory to investigate how 103 teachers enacted dual credit at eight high schools partnered with a community college system in Texas. Findings demonstrate…

Evidence of inefficient course-taking patterns at community colleges has spurred policy conversations about how to ensure effective course sequences. Structural reforms, like guided pathways, seek to reduce major switching as a means to streamline student course taking and eliminate unnecessary credits. By placing students into broad fields of…

Although the majority of college freshmen enroll at community colleges, very few research studies focus on this context. In addition, what research does exist often overlooks important practitioner concerns, such as instruction. In this article we argue that supporting generalizable education research conducted by community college practitioners…

This study employed the career capital framework (DeFillippi & Arthur, 1994; Inkson & Arthur, 2001) and the associated three ways of knowing adapted for community colleges: "knowing why" (aspirations), "knowing how" (knowledge and skills), and "knowing whom" (sources of information). The authors constructed an…

In 2010, Tennessee enacted the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), which increased the proportion of state performance-based funding from 5.45% to 85% and added a 40% funding premium for progression and degree completions by adult students and low-income students. We collect data from 2001-02 to 2014-15 and use difference-in-differences…

This study explored science, mathematics, and general academic factors that predicted outcomes for community college students (N = 3052) in a regional institution. A binary logistic regression was performed to determine significant independent variables contributing to successful outcomes (graduation or transfer) vs. non-completion. Transcript…

The persistent stereotypes of Asian-American students being highly academically successful and not needing support presents a unique context for which to study institutions with a critical mass of low-income Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). This critical ethnographic case study examines practitioners' meaning-making of the federal…

This study uses nationally representative longitudinal data and propensity score modeling to evaluate the effects of first-year engagement experiences at community college--including social and academic contact with faculty and participation in study groups and clubs--on achievement, persistence, degree attainment, and vertical transfer. Speaking…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of receiving an associate's degree via reverse credit transfer on retention and bachelor's degree attainment for students in Hawaii and Minnesota who transferred from a community college to a university before earning an associate's degree. Results showed mostly positive evidence with some…

Given community colleges' open enrollment policies and their numerous instructional missions (A. M. Cohen & Brawer, 2008), students enter and re-enter with various and often multiple objectives but not always with clear knowledge of how to clarify and accomplish them. Among early intake activities, the role of academic advising in particular…

Contextualization refers to "a diverse family of instructional strategies designed to more seamlessly link the learning of foundational skills and academic or occupational content by focusing teaching and learning squarely on concrete applications in a specific context that is of interest to the student" (Mazzeo, 2008, p. 3). In…

Improving the outcomes of students in developmental or remedial math remains a puzzle in higher education. Concerns with low persistence and completion rates have motivated proponents of reform to reconsider the delivery of developmental math. Lengthening the amount of time in math is thought to be an intervention that improves academic…

Through a one year-long, qualitative study of welfare-to-work students, this study investigates the developing epistemologies of women enrolled in a community college CalWORKs program. We investigate how poverty as a macro-environment and the community college as a micro-environment influence participants' epistemological development. Findings…