TransferBOOST (Bachelor's Opportunity Options that are Straightforward and Transparent) is a multi-year state-level initiative developed to provide students with affordable, quality, well-supported two- to four-year pathways. Affordability matters a great deal for transfer students, but it has typically not been understood or prioritized. The IHEP…

Federal financial aid serves as a crucial tool to support both access and success for students in higher education. This is especially true at community colleges. Whether they are seeking job training, a certificate, or an associate degree, our students rely on consistent and meaningful sources of support to advance their educational aspirations.…

Financial crunching has created a vacuum in the mission of community colleges, with specific focus paid to completion rates and degree attainment of students from low economic settings. This constraint on a profound national level has imposed a general concern to the American society, and many of our community colleges have aligned with global…

Driven by economic and educational imperatives, public policymakers, higher education leaders, and philanthropic and advocacy groups are mobilizing aggressive national and state campaigns to bolster college completion. Campaigns to improve student success are particularly concerned about the performance of the nation's community colleges. In…

Outcomes-based funding (OBF) has become an increasingly common tool for states seeking to improve student outcomes, and the inclusion of certificates in OBF policies has been subject to considerable scrutiny. But studying the effects of OBF on certificates is exceptionally challenging. Certificates vary greatly in length, type, and labor market…

Driven by economic and educational imperatives, public policymakers, higher education leaders, and philanthropic and advocacy groups are mobilizing aggressive national and state campaigns to bolster college completion. Campaigns to improve student success are particularly concerned about the performance of the nation's community colleges. In…

A new landscape is emerging at community colleges across the country -- a new approach that puts preparing students for the workforce at the center of the college's mission and culture. Occupational education has always been part of the mission at community colleges. What's changing today: New technology is putting a new premium on occupational…

Community college students are being forced to delay future educational goals, due to the lack of financial support. Grants, student loans and financial aid support from government sources are in short supply. While past resources from state legislative bodies are being restricted and have been reduced to historic levels; educational…

After twenty years of expanding school-choice options, state leaders, educators, and families have a new tool: course choice, a strategy for students to learn from unconventional providers that might range from top-tier universities or innovative community colleges to local employers, labs, or hospitals. In "Expanding the Education Universe:…

In 2015 while higher educational institutions received $40 billion in gifts, community colleges only received about 1.5 percent of that amount--despite the fact that they account for about half of students at any one time, according to an estimate provided by the Council for Aid to Education, which maintains data on educational giving. The reason…

This study was designed to explore the lived experiences of the free tuition movement from the standpoint of community college administrators. To accomplish this objective, a qualitative phenomenological approach was chosen. The sampling used in this study was purposive sampling which included nine colleges and eleven semi-structured telephone…

Relatively few studies have focused on two-year college BSN transfer students and the unique features that predict their educational outcomes. Conducting one-on-one interviews with seven students from one of three University of Wisconsin baccalaureate institutions who had transferred to a four-year institution from either a two-year University of…

The purpose of this study was to explore strategies to enable community colleges to develop and cultivate women for leadership roles through succession planning. According to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the pace of administrative and other key staff retirements exceeds the pace at which these positions are being…

January 2014, Governor Jerry Brown announced in his budget proposal an unprecedented line-item designation for student equity in community colleges. His proposal of $100 million for student equity set the stage for the past year and a half of enhanced activities locally and statewide on student equity issues. Most prominently, the 112 community…

This study investigated various state policies to determine their impact on the state share of instruction (SSI) funding to community colleges in the state of Ohio. To complete the policy analysis, the researcher utilized three policy analysis tools, defined by Gill and Saunders (2010) as iterative processes, intuition and judgment, and advice and…