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Many community college students fail to graduate. Even among those students who enroll for a substantial period of time and who earn a significant number of college credits, many fail to complete an award. To improve completion rates in community colleges, administrators may want to focus attention on this group of students [the authors] call 'lingerers'. Compared with other students, such as those who drop out early in their college careers, lingerers demonstrate persistence and a strong intention to complete a college program, yet they do not earn an award. This result is costly both for the students and the colleges they attend. In this analysis, [the authors] examine the following questions: what are the characteristics of lingerers in community college? How do their course-taking behaviors differ from those of students who complete an award? What prevents them from completing?

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Research suggests that students who reach important milestones early in their college careers are more likely than others to achieve their education goals (Edgecombe, 2011). And knowing when particular kinds of students reach academic milestones (or when they exit college without attaining a degree) can shed light on common patterns of student progression (Moore and Shulock, 2009). This report examines how the timing of important events in community college student progression - reaching program concentration by earning nine college-level credits in a single area of study, completing a program of study, and exiting college prior to program completion - differs by students who upon entry to college are deemed college ready or are referred to developmental education in either one, two, or three subject areas. It also examines the timing of additional post-exit education outcomes of students who leave their first college prior to program completion.

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Using data from the Virginia Community College System and building upon prior Florida-based research, this study examines whether student success course enrollment, as well as student and institutional characteristics, has positive associations with shorter-term student outcomes, including earning any college credits within the first year and persistence into the second year. The present study finds that students who enrolled in a student success course in the first semester were more likely to earn any college-level credits within the first year and were more likely to persist to the second year. The study also finds that students who were referred to developmental education were more likely to earn any college-level credits within the first year if they enrolled in a student success course in their first term.

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Community colleges in the US have played a pivotal role in higher education. However, due to the great diversity of students and multiple roles played by community colleges, often with limited resources, there is an underlying tension between these institutions providing access to students and also being accountable for their eventual success, often measured in completion or successful transfer to a four year college. In this chapter the author examines further the mission of community colleges, the roles they play for their students, and the challenges they face in accommodating the diversity of their students. Also explored is that tension between being open and available to all students, while attempting to maintain standards of success, mostly in award completion and job attainment after community college.

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After being assessed, many students entering community colleges are referred to one or more levels of developmental education. While the need to assist students with weak academic skills is well known, little research has examined student progression through multiple levels of developmental education and into entry-level college courses. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the patterns and determinants of student progression through sequences of developmental education starting from initial referral. Our results indicate that fewer than one half of the students who are referred to remediation actually complete the entire sequence to which they are referred. About 30 per cent of students referred to developmental education do not enroll in any remedial course, and only about 60 per cent of referred students actually enroll in the remedial course to which they were referred. The results also show that more students exit their developmental sequences because they did not enroll in the first or a subsequent course than because they failed or withdrew from a course in which they were enrolled. We also show that men, older students, African American students, part-time students, and students in vocational programs are less likely to progress through their full remedial sequences.

Published abstract reprinted from 'Economics of education review', copyright 2010, with permission from Elsevier. Show less

To support the long-term success of underprepared students, many community colleges are experimenting with accelerated developmental education models, which allow students to complete remediation and enroll in college-level math and English within a shorter time frame. This study examines three developmental acceleration programs, including two in English and one in math. Overall, students on accelerated pathways were more likely than a set of matched peers to successfully complete the relevant college-level course within three years. However, to help maintain strong student performance within subsequent college-level courses, accelerated pathways may need to incorporate rigorous content, systematic faculty development, and targeted student supports.

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This paper presents the findings from a follow-up quantitative analysis of the Community College of Baltimore County's Accelerated Learning Program (ALP). The results suggest that among students who enroll in the highest level developmental writing course, participation in ALP is associated with substantially better outcomes in terms of English 101 completion and English 102 completion (college-level English courses), which corroborates the results of a similar analysis completed in 2010. Moreover, using a larger number of cohorts and tracking students over a longer period of time, we also found that ALP students were more likely than non-ALP students to persist to the next year. In addition to specific subgroup analyses, we compared college-ready students enrolled in ALP sections of English 101 with their counterparts in wholly college-ready sections, and found that those in ALP sections had equivalent performance within English 101 itself, but slightly lower subsequent college-level course enrollment and completion.

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When students arrive to enroll in community college, almost all are asked to take a skills assessment in math, reading, and writing. Based on these assessments, students are either categorised as 'college-ready' and can enroll or they are considered 'developmental' or 'remedial' and are referred to academic services designed to raise their skills up to college standards. In this brief, [the authors] report on evidence about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of remediation and then provide information about the progression of students through the developmental sequence. Assessments, costs and initiatives of remedial services are discussed.

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Using data from the Virginia Community College System and building upon prior Florida-based research, this study examines whether student success course enrollment, as well as student and institutional characteristics, has positive associations with shorter term student outcomes, including earning any college credits within the first year and persistence into the second year. The present study finds that students who enrolled in a student success course in the first semester were more likely to earn any college-level credits within the first year and were more likely to persist to the second year. The study also finds that students who were referred to developmental education were more likely to earn any college-level credits within the first year if they enrolled in a student success course in their first term.

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In response to the low rates at which adult basic skills students advance to and succeed in college-level occupational programs, the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) developed the Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training, or I-BEST. In the I-BEST model, a basic skills instructor and an occupational instructor team teach occupational courses with integrated basic skills content, and students receive college-level credit for the occupational coursework. In this study, we examined the impact of I-BEST on students enrolled in the program in 2006–07 and 2007–08. We measured seven educational outcome variables: (1) whether a student earned any college credit (of any kind); (2) whether a student earned any occupational college credit; (3) the number of college credits a student earned; (4) the number of occupational college credits a student earned; (5) whether or not a student persisted to the following year after initial enrollment; (6) whether a student earned a certificate or degree; and (7) whether a student achieved point gains on basic skills tests. We also examined two labor market outcomes: the change in wages for those who were employed both before and after program enrollment, and the change in the number of hours worked after leaving the program. We found that enrollment in I-BEST had positive impacts on all but one of the educational outcomes (persistence was not affected), but no impact on the two labor market outcomes. However, I-BEST students in our sample were entering the labor market just as the economy was entering a major recession, and perhaps a future evaluation will reveal better labor market outcomes. We performed a difference-in-differences (DID) analysis and found that students who attended colleges with I-BEST after the program was implemented were 7.5 percentage points more likely to earn a certificate within three years and almost 10 percentage points more likely to earn some college credits, relative to students who were not exposed to I-BEST. Unlike the regression and PSM analyses we carried out, the DID approach allows us to make causal inferences about the effectiveness of I-BEST. The DID findings are especially impressive given that they are based on the effects of I-BEST during their first year of implementation at the subset of colleges offering the 'treatment' examined. We assume that the effectiveness of the I-BEST model will improve as colleges gain more experience with it.

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