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Public two-year colleges offer an entry point to postsecondary education for many Americans who might otherwise forgo college. Most students leave college without a credential. A growing body of research examines the returns to higher education among two-year college entrants but primarily focuses on returns to credentials. This study examines the returns to different types of credits, including academic, technical, and developmental credits. In a series of individual fixed effects models, we use state administrative data following a population of public two-year college entrants to understand which college credits yield the greatest returns and how returns to credits vary across degree attainment. Our findings illustrate that average estimates of the returns to credits obscure varied patterns of returns among two-year college students, where sub-baccalaureate credential recipients appear to experience different returns to academic and technical credits compared with their peers.

The geosciences continue to lag behind the other sciences in both diversity and degree completion rates of students transferring from two-year colleges (2YCs). Critical to strengthening the transfer student pipeline is the need to identify who takes introductory geosciences courses at the 2YC level and what factors contribute to increased 2YC student transfer intent for those interested in pursuing geoscience degrees. This study uses data collected from 708 student respondents to a pretransfer study survey administered in introductory geoscience courses at 26 unique 2YCs to gain an understanding of the influence that background characteristics, academic engagement experiences (e.g. faculty-student interaction, undergraduate research experiences, and field-based educational experiences), and academic advisor engagement have on 2YC geoscience student transfer intent. Sequential multiple regression findings revealed a number of factors that predict higher geoscience transfer intent, including age, high school math preparation, having taken an Earth science course in high school, the number of science courses taken at the 2YC, student-faculty interaction, and faculty and academic advisors discussing physical science careers. The results also demonstrated that field-based educational experiences have a significant role in increasing student intent to transfer pursuing geoscience degrees. Findings presented point to the need to develop practices focused on transfer student capital acquisition and supports the proposition that 2YCs can serve as an intervention point to broaden participation in the geosciences.

Our understanding of community college pathways to baccalaureate degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is remarkably incomplete, despite growing recognition of the sizeable role that community colleges stand to play in increasing the number of students who enter STEM baccalaureate programs, particularly underrepresented students. Here, we drew from data on nearly 3 million students to analyze participation in and navigation of the STEM transfer curriculum in community colleges, while focusing primarily on the fields of math, chemistry, and physics. We found that a large number of students enrolled in college-level STEM coursework, and many of these students were of demographic groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields. Yet, comparatively few students progressed into advanced STEM coursework. Moreover, the contribution of community colleges to resolving longstanding demographic inequities in STEM is constrained by pronounced gender and racial/ethnic differences in points of entry into the STEM curriculum, pathways through STEM, and manner of exit from STEM. As a result, much of the considerable potential of community colleges to improve STEM baccalaureate production and equity of opportunity in STEM remains largely unrealized at this point. We conclude with practical recommendations and a detailed research agenda to guide future inquiry on this subject.

Many of the democratizing opportunities provided by community colleges are diminished in the eyes of policy makers by inadequate rates of success. In particular, large proportions of students who enter community colleges do not persist for longer than a semester, complete a program, or attain a credential. This review critically examines academic and policy research in search of explanations, emphasizing what is known about challenges stemming from three levels of influence: the macro-level opportunity structure; institutional practices; and the social, economic, and academic attributes students bring to college. It provides examples of how factors operating at each level affect rates of success at key times, including the initial transition to college, the experience of remedial education, and persistence through credit-bearing coursework. The article also discusses potential and ongoing reforms that could increase rates of community college success by addressing one or more areas of influence (the macro, the institutional, or the individual). It is concluded that increasing success in the open-access, public 2-year sector requires reforms directed at multiple levels and cannot be achieved with either student-or institution-focused incentives alone.

This book presents leaders and aspiring leaders in community colleges with a theoretical and practical framework for analyzing their leadership styles, and determining the dimensions of leadership they need to improve in order to strengthen their capacity to resolve complex issues and effectively guide their institutions. It does so through presenting theories about leadership that are congruent with the notions of equity, access, diversity, ethics, critical inquiry, transformational change, and social justice that drive the missions of community colleges, and at the same time provides the reader with the strategic skills to prepare for and navigate the profound changes ahead.Readers will gain an understanding of how to use theory as a tool to guide their practice, better understand the intricacies of the issues confronting them, the power dynamics and organizational context in which they operate, predict potential outcomes, and develop processes to achieve desired outcomes. Utilizing theory in conjunction with case study analysis provides community college leaders with the tools needed to comprehensively interrogate and inform decision-making processes. The authors provide a number of rich and realistically complex case studies, all of which are situated in a community college environment, to which readers can apply the various theories and perspectives, develop their view about the principles and actions most likely to lead to satisfactory outcomes, and hone the approaches to leadership that are authentic to them, and effective. The authors aim to help readers develop the multi-faceted approach to leadership that is essential to running complex organizations. They aim to promote development of the “whole” leader through a three-fold framework of theory, practice, and introspection in context of institutional change. In doing so, leaders will be better equipped to lead community colleges in challenging times.The authors tie AACC’s competencies to the leadership theories they cover, as well as to the analysis of the case studies, and leadership inventories, as an essential framework for developing the skill sets to enact the community college mission.The book is suitable for personal reading and reflection, institutional leadership retreats and training, and as a text for higher education courses.

A primary focus among colleges implementing student success reforms has been to increase overall rates of completing any credential and to reduce racial and socioeconomic equity gaps in such completion rates. The focus on general completion may overlook inequities in the type of program students complete, which is particularly significant given the wide variety of credentials offered at community colleges and the resulting variation in labor market returns among completers. Our study examines racial/ethnic stratification among community college students as they enter and progress through programs leading to higher or lower opportunities in the labor market. Using a discrete-time survival analysis and longitudinal enrollment and transcript data. We track enrollment, completion, and transfer for up to 9 years. We also measure achievement of academic milestones (such as credit accrual) along educational pathways associated with higher rates of credential completion and transfer over the long term. Results suggest that a significant gap in the likelihood of bachelor’s degree completion between Black and White students emerges episodically, while the gap between Hispanic and White students develops earlier and remains consistent over time. Results also suggest that, while all students generally benefit from attainment of academic milestones, doing so disproportionately benefits Black and Hispanic students.

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 has been connected to student persistence (King, 1993; Young, Backer, & Rogers, 1989), even as relatively few studies have presented empirical evidence supporting these claims (Bailey & Alfonso, 2005). Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand how different kinds of advising activities during the first three weeks for community college students who enroll for the first time relate to their intentions to re-enroll. Data used for this study come from the 2010 Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE) administered by CCCSE (2007, 2010). It is administered before the end of the third week of the fall academic term. Participants come from classes sampled randomly from among all developmental reading, writing, and math courses (excluding ESL) and from first college-level English and math courses. In 2010, 13 colleges administered an optional special-focus module on intensive academic advising activities. CCCSE provided an 80 percent random sample of student responses from these 13 colleges, from which the authors selected only those students new to college and not co-enrolled elsewhere (n = 3,956). This study employs multinomial logistic regression to examine the relative relationship of new students' persistence intentions in the first three weeks of college in relation to engagement factors--with a particular focus on advising activities. Results show that advising activities and other engagement factors are related to new community college students' earliest persistence intentions but in limited and nuanced ways. The authors found three principal ways of understanding this nuance: (1) the relationship between engagement and persistence intentions heavily depends on individual goals; (2) different kinds of advising may have different effects for different students; and (3) the role of academic and social support networks matter in the near term and likely in the long term. They discuss these findings and in turn in relation to the research literature and their implications for practice.

There is persistent underrepresentation of female and ethnic and racial minority students in computing. While community colleges provide a unique opportunity to increase diversity in computing fields, many students do not persist. This study aims to understand the factors that predict students’ momentum—completion of a certificate, degree, or transfer in an information and communications technology (ICT) major—in order to generate information that can be used to tailor interventions. Participants were enrolled in ICT classes at 17 community colleges. Surveys were collected from 474 students at three time points over two years. Multilevel logistic regression was used to identify the factors that predict momentum approximately one year after the class ended. The results expand on Wang’s theoretical model of student momentum. Men were more likely than women to have achieved an academic milestone, which was partially a result of taking more prior ICT classes, having more positive interactions with faculty and a more positive perception of the classroom climate, as well as greater motivation and fewer childcare responsibilities. Among students from groups that are underrepresented in computing, momentum was positively associated with taking prior ICT classes, motivation during the class, and romantic relationships; it was negatively associated with educational barriers. Being enrolled less than full-time at baseline or having financial challenges did not undermine momentum. Implications for practice, as well as study limitations are discussed.

This paper discusses the value of a Freirean liberatory perspective in community colleges, countering the traditional “second chance” or “social reproduction” viewpoints attributed by scholars to the education offered in these institutions, emphasizing its vital need in science and healthcare careers education. I explore the potential of this perspective by providing illustrative examples from a biology course incorporating social justice science issues in the curriculum to examine their relationship in cultivating students’ critical consciousness at a community college with a programmatic emphasis on healthcare professions.

Roger Garrison provides one compelling example of the kind of discoveries to make by better attending to the history of writing instruction in two-year colleges (TYCs). Garrison was unique in a number of ways, but his case is not an anomaly--there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of community college writing teachers whose legacies might similarly be revived. However, this work is not without its challenges. Garrison published widely, and his professional profile was large enough in his time that much of his work was preserved on microfiche even after his books stopped being printed and the journals he published in ceased production. Additionally, his friends and colleagues, most notably Mary Sue Koeppel and David B. Gottshall, have written about Garrison's legacy, providing a narrative context for the isolated artifacts of his published scholarship. Evans fears that, should this work of historical recovery continue, it will only grow more challenging. Most TYC faculty do not publish regularly or establish national institutes for scholarly collaboration, and few institutional archives preserve pedagogical artifacts for future study. Their contributions to the field are more localized and less visible, but these contributions are no less important.