Community colleges educate just under half of all undergraduates in the U.S. - the majority from low-income, minority or first-generation immigrant families. Yet many of these students never complete their degrees. (Six years after initial enrollment, only 36% of students who start their higher education in a community college have completed certificates, associates or bachelor's degrees) and many more simply never reach college.

In a world where a post-secondary credential is increasingly the ticket to upward economic mobility, that's grim news. But how to improve the picture? TC's Community College Research Center (CCRC) is the nation's premier independent research organization devoted to the study of these institutions. Its fundamental mission is to conduct research that will promote equitable college access and succsess for all students.

Research shows that many college students are not prepared academically for college-level work-in some community colleges a majority of entering students fail to pass entry-level assessments, and are therefore assigned to developmental classes. Moreover, many high school students have no idea what is expected of them in college and are surprised and discouraged when they learn that they are not adequately prepared. Hence the growth of programs that aim to improve academic and social preparation for high school students, particularly for those who are most at risk.

Chief among these are credit based transition programs (often called "dual enrollment" programs), in which high school students take college or college-level courses. "It's an ambitious strategy," says Thomas Bailey, TC's George and Abby O'Neil Professor of Economics and Education, and Director of the school's Community College Research Center (CCRC). "It seems contradictory - why take students who aren't doing well in high school and put them into college-level courses early? But the rationale is that by expecting more from these students -- by giving them a taste of college, treating them as more mature, and providing academic and student support services -- you can motivate them to do better. It's very optimistic."

Indeed, politicians on both sides of the aisle support the idea. The U.S. Department of Education has enthusiastically supported research and demonstrations of dual enrollment and similar high school to college transition programs. Margaret Spellings, the new U.S. Secretary of Education, announced her intention to pour $150 million into such programs…

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