Community colleges and student success: models for comprehensive reform

Over the last few decades, the importance of a college education has grown both for society and for individuals. This is reflected in the large earnings gap between individuals with a high school degree and those with a postsecondary credential. However, most students in the US who start in community colleges never complete a degree or certificate. This constitutes a failure for those students to achieve their goals and represents a loss of potential earning power and economic growth and activity for the economy as a whole. Although students experience earnings gains by accumulating...  [+] Show more

Over the last few decades, the importance of a college education has grown both for society and for individuals. This is reflected in the large earnings gap between individuals with a high school degree and those with a postsecondary credential. However, most students in the US who start in community colleges never complete a degree or certificate. This constitutes a failure for those students to achieve their goals and represents a loss of potential earning power and economic growth and activity for the economy as a whole. Although students experience earnings gains by accumulating credits without graduating, they get a significant additional increase upon completing a credential. In this article the author explains how substantially increasing community college completion rates requires comprehensive institutional reform. A comprehensive change model is outlined, which includes a focus on measurable student success, an intentional and cohesive package of programmatic components, and a culture of evidence.

Edited excerpts from publication.