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Research has consistently shown that older students – those who enter college for the first time at age 25 or older – are less likely to complete a degree or certificate. The authors estimate a single-risk discrete-time hazard model using transcript data on a cohort of first-time community college students in Florida to compare the educational outcomes of older and traditional-age students. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the authors’ results suggest that after controlling for cognitive mathematics ability, older students enrolled in Florida community colleges have a higher conditional probability of completing a degree or certificate in the observed event period.

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Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) integrates the teaching of basic skills and technical content in order to accelerate basic skills students’ transition into and through a college-level occupational field of study. The study reported on here represents the final phase of a multi-year evaluation of the I-BEST model that began in 2009, conducted by [the Community College Research Center] CCRC in collaboration with MPR Associates and the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. Based on fieldwork undertaken in spring 2011 on 16 I-BEST programs at eight colleges, this report builds on CCRC’s earlier qualitative and quantitative research by seeking to understand those aspects of I-BEST that best support student learning, progression, and completion. In addition, the report considers the I-BEST student experience and presents the results of a cost-benefit analysis of the program. The findings and recommendations highlighted in the report will be of interest to funders, policymakers, and practitioners in other states who are considering transition interventions similar to the I-BEST model.

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This guide presents examples and instructions for data analyses colleges can conduct to better understand student enrollments and completions in particular programs. Such analyses can help colleges scrutinize representation of historically marginalized groups in programs leading to greater opportunity after graduation. There is an equity imperative in this effort. Without disaggregating program enrollments with an eye to what those programs lead to - and interrogating and redesigning practices and policies perpetuating inequities - student success reform approaches such as guided pathways will likely continue to reinforce existing racial/ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic stratification. Examining representation across college programs with equity in mind is an important complement to the work colleges are doing to increase completion rates overall and close equity gaps.

The authors recommend that colleges undertake a series of data exercises and reflective discussions based on the following three questions: (1) What programs are our students currently enrolled in? (2) What opportunity does each program lead to in terms of further education (e.g., transfer to bachelor's programs or bridges into more advanced workforce credentials) and/or immediate job prospects and earnings; (3) Which programs lead to greater or lesser opportunity? Is student representation across programs proportionate? Which subgroups of students (by race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and age) are underrepresented in higher-opportunity programs? To answer these questions, the authors show how to carry out a set of relatively simple data analyses that colleges can replicate using their own data. Similar analyses can be used to examine program completions.

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This resource is designed to help state entities organize workshops within which teams from two- and four-year institutions work together to improve transfer and graduation outcomes for their students. Through data analysis and self-reflection of institutional practices, these workshops help institutions develop action plans - individually and among partners - to improve transfer student success.

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In 2003, Lumina Foundation for Education launched a bold, multiyear, national initiative called Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, to help students stay in school and succeed. The initiative is focused particularly on students who have faced the most barriers to success, including low-income students and students of color. Initially, 27 colleges in five states joined the initiative; there are now over 80 institutions in 15 states [across the US]. Colleges participating in the Achieving the Dream initiative commit to using data to improve programs and services in ways that lead to increased student success - a process known as 'building a culture of evidence'. Specifically, colleges mine transcripts and gather other information to understand how students are faring over time and which groups need the most assistance. Based on a diagnosis of the problems in student achievement, they design and implement strategies to improve academic outcomes. This report describes the progress made by the 13 Pennsylvania and Washington State community colleges that comprise round three of the initiative after planning and one year of implementation. The key findings are: (1) the average institutional rates for Pennsylvania and Washington colleges on most of the baseline performance measures were low, and there was greater variation among colleges within the two states than between them; (2) there was widespread support among college leaders and other personnel for the Achieving the Dream goals and principles, which were seen as consistent with college goals and accreditation and state accountability requirements; (3) all 13 colleges used an analysis of their college's data as the primary means of identifying gaps in student achievement, and used both qualitative and quantitative data to identify and prioritize problems areas; (4) the strategies developed by the colleges focused on four areas: developmental education, supplemental instruction, a first-year student success course, and better organized and more intrusive advising; (5) four colleges were beginning to institutionalize a culture of evidence, and another four had made promising progress after the first year of implementation. Five had made little or only limited progress; and (6) Achieving the Dream had positive effects on all of the 13 Pennsylvania and Washington State colleges, which as a group were further along a year and a half into the process than were the colleges that joined the initiative two years earlier in the first round. The findings from this study will be compared with follow-up research that the Community College Research Center (CCRC) and MDRC will conduct in two years to evaluate the progress of the colleges at the end of the five-year project period.

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Many students fail to complete college because the pathways they take through college are not optimal. One example is that their initial course loads are often too low. When students take too few courses in the first semester or academic year, it negatively affects their 'momentum'. Compounded over semesters, these students accumulate insufficient credits to graduate within the conventional time frame. In this paper, [the authors] explore the academic and economic consequences of taking higher or lower credit loads. Using student-level data from the Tennessee Board of Regents, [the authors] estimate differences in award completion and credit accumulation across students according to their first-semester and first-year credit loads.

[The authors] apply ordinary least squares and propensity score matching estimation to adjust for differences in student characteristics. Using an economic model, [the authors] estimate improvements in cost per completion (i.e., cost efficiency), and additional spending by students who take 15 credits in their first semester ('momentum students') compared with those who take 12 credits. [The authors] find strong positive academic impacts on credits and degree completion for momentum students in community colleges and four-year colleges. These impacts are financially valuable to students: over their time in college, momentum students pay four to 14 per cent less per credit and nine to 19 per cent less per degree in tuition and fees. These savings also produce gains for colleges, because more tuition revenue is generated as more students persist. The academic and economic effects are even stronger for students who sustain momentum through the first year.

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Discussions of the barriers to completion in community colleges have largely focused on student success in introductory college-level math and English courses, and rightfully so, since these courses are typically required for degrees. However, there is a much broader range of courses that also serve as 'gatekeepers' in the sense that they are obstacles to completion. This paper offers methods for identifying these courses and for assessing the relative extent of the obstacle to completion each of them poses. We compare the performance in these courses of students who successfully completed a credential with those who did not. We find that the difficulty students experience in succeeding in many other introductory courses is just as great as that posed by college math and English. If colleges want to reduce impediments to graduation, they therefore need to look at a broader range of courses than just math and English and devise strategies for improving student achievement in these courses as well. We also find that overall [grade point average] GPA in college courses is a stronger predictor of completion than performance in any one course. This suggests that colleges need to monitor students' overall performance to identify those who are in danger of not completing and design academic and non-academic interventions to help them succeed. Conversely, colleges need also to identify students who did well in these obstacle courses but have dropped out, so that they can encourage them to continue. It also suggests that remedial instruction, which is typically focused on math and English, should be rethought and its scope broadened.

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All 13 state community colleges are under the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) implementing what they call 'Tennessee completion practices' - reforms to help students choose, enter, navigate, and complete programs that prepare them for further education and careers. This report describes how the colleges are operationalizing the Tennessee completion practices in their own contexts, as well as how trends in leading indicators of student completion have changed since the reforms began.

Drawing on colleges' detailed self-assessments of their progress and telephone interviews with college administrators, staff, and faculty, the authors discuss how far along the colleges are in implementing completion practices in each of the four major areas of guided pathways reforms: (1) mapping pathways to student end goals; (2) helping students choose and enter a program pathway; (3) keeping students on path; and (4) ensuring that students are learning. They then examine promising trends in first-year momentum among entering students, with a focus on students' accumulation of college credits and completion of gateway college math and English courses in their first year. In addition to looking at overall improvements in early momentum metrics, the authors review the extent to which the colleges have made progress in closing equity gaps by race/ethnicity and age. The report concludes with a consideration of critical next frontiers for the Tennessee community colleges, along with future directions for the Community College Research Center's continuing research partnership with TBR and the Tennessee community colleges.

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More than a million high school students across the nation participate in dual enrollment each year. Dual enrollment students are more likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college, and complete college degrees. But students from historically underrepresented racial/ethnic groups and low-income backgrounds do not have equitable access to or success in dual enrollment. This playbook examines nine dual enrollment programs in Florida, Ohio, and Washington that have narrowed or closed equity gaps in dual enrollment for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and Pacific Islander students. These programs - developed by partnerships between high schools and community colleges - show that it is possible to close equity gaps when intentional strategy is paired with innovation and commitment. The playbook identifies five principles and the supporting strategies and practices through which community colleges and K-12 leaders can advance equity in high-quality dual enrollment: (1) Set a shared vision and goals that prioritize equity; (2) Expand equitable access; (3) Provide advising and supports that ensure equitable student outcomes; (4) Provide high-quality instruction that builds students' competence and confidence; and (5) Organize teams and develop relationships to maximize potential.

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Across the United States, a growing number of colleges are redesigning their programs and student support services according to the 'guided pathways' model. Central to this approach are efforts to clarify pathways to program completion, career advancement, and further education. Equally essential are efforts to help students explore college and career options and choose a program of study early on, help them make steady progress on their program plans, and ensure that they are building essential skills across their programs. This report provides insight into how colleges are planning and implementing guided pathways reforms. It is based on the early work of 30 colleges that are participating in the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Pathways Project and have committed to redesigning their programs and support services at scale.

The report describes the variety of ways in which the AACC Pathways colleges are approaching guided pathways reforms in each of the model's four main practice areas: (1) mapping pathways to student end goals; (2) helping students choose and enter a program pathway; (3) keeping students on path; and (4) ensuring that students are learning.

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