Challenges and Opportunities for Improving Community College Student Success

Abstract

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.

Factors Contributing to the Upward Transfer of Baccalaureate Aspirants Beginning at Community Colleges

“…Mandatory requirement for full-time enrollment during particular semesters, as practiced in many institutions, is only one of the possible approaches to encourage stronger enrollment intensity. Since part-time students may face competing demands with work or family or may be unable to afford full-time enrollment (Goldrick-Rab, 2010), it is more important to offer a wider choice of courses and more flexibility in scheduling for students who might be otherwise constrained by external demands and work schedule from participating in learning full time. Additionally, institutional efforts should be directed at promoting learning and a sense of learning community.…”

Academic Advising and the Persistence Intentions of Community College Students in their First Weeks in College

“…First, relatively few data sets provide sufficient information at all on student-level experiences and pathways through community colleges, and secondly, persistence data-like other student success measures in community colleges-mean little without corresponding information about students' goals (Goldrick-Rab, 2010). Students enter community college with myriad and often overlapping purposes, whether to complete an associate's degree, to transfer, or both, or just as often to take only single courses as needed for transfer credit at another institution where they are contemporaneously enrolled, for personal enrichment, obtaining specific skills, or for the sake of exploring interests and opportunities, among other purposes (Center for Community College Student Engagement [CCCSE], 2004;Clagett, 1989).…”

Planning as strategy for improving Black and Latinx student equity: Lessons from nine California community colleges

“…These differences point to funding disparities across higher education systems and fiscal constraints limiting the resources available to help students navigate community college and progress towards degree attainment or transfer (Belfield, Crosta, & Jenkins, 2014). Perhaps unsurprisingly then are the limited success rates in degree attainment and transfer to four-year institutions produced by community colleges (Contreras & Contreras, 2015;Goldrick-Rab, 2010;Melguizo, Keinzl, & Alfonso, 2011). Regarding degree completion, community colleges have the lowest completion rates of all postsecondary institutionsonly 38% of students who begin their education at a community college complete an associate's degree after six years (Gonzales, 2015).…”