Publications
How Can Community Colleges Afford to Offer Dual Enrollment College Courses to High School Students at a Discount?
Using three case studies, this paper examines the conditions under which dual enrollment programming could be made sustainable through efficiency gains, even for colleges that charge discounted tuition (or none at all).
Helping Underserved Students at Higher Performing iPASS Colleges: An Exploration of Support Practices
This report shares results of research undertaken to understand what five iPASS institutions were doing before and during the iPASS grant period to advise and support Black, Latinx, and low-income students both in and outside the classroom.
Caring Campus: Faculty Leadership in Student Success
Caring Campus/Faculty is a program aimed at increasing students’ connection to college; this report shares findings from a study on how it is being adopted at several colleges, including insights into effective faculty engagement and implementation.
The Impact of Dual Enrollment on College Application Choice and Admission Success
Using a regression discontinuity approach and data from two cohorts of students in one state, this paper examines the effect of taking dual enrollment credits on the number of in-state public colleges students apply and are admitted to and the selectivity of those colleges.
The Effect of Job Displacement on College Enrollment: Evidence From Ohio
Using employer-employee-student matched administrative data from Ohio, this paper provides the first direct evidence of workers' enrollment responses following mass layoffs in the United States.
Five Principles for Reforming Developmental Education: A Review of the Evidence
In a review of impact and implementation studies from the past ten years, this CAPR report summarizes what is known about how innovations to developmental education can improve student outcomes, and it draws out five principles that are key for reform.
Funding Guided Pathways Reforms at Small Colleges: Three Ohio Community Colleges Show How to Do It
This report and accompanying case studies describe how three small colleges have made large-scale changes in practice based on the guided pathways model and how they funded and are sustaining these changes to improve rates of student progression and completion.
Stratified Trajectories: Charting Equity Gaps in Program Pathways Among Community College Students
Using nine years of data from one state, this paper tracks completion and transfer outcomes to examine when gaps between Black, Hispanic, and White community college students occur, and it estimates the benefits of reaching early academic milestones for such students.
The Next Phase of Placement Reform: Moving Toward Equity-Centered Practice
This CAPR brief provides guidance to institutions seeking to design and implement placement systems that redress limitations of test-only systems and that work in conjunction with other reforms to generate more equitable outcomes.
Community College STEM Pathways
This fact sheet describes how community colleges hold potential for diversifying the STEM workforce as well as the challenges that community college students face in completing STEM programs.
“Lost in the Shuffle”: How Relationships and Personalized Advisement Shape Transfer Aspirations and Outcomes for Community College Students
This journal article examines how students at six community colleges identified and weighed possible transfer destination colleges, and how dedicated and personalized advisement shaped students’ transfer plans and contributed to their transfer outcomes.
A Strategy for Estimating the Effects of Whole-College Guided Pathways Reforms in Community Colleges
This paper presents a methodology for assessing the scale of adoption and estimating the causal effects of guided pathways within states and across colleges that have adopted the approach.
Does Taking a Few Courses at a Community College Improve the Baccalaureate, STEM, and Labor Market Outcomes of Four-Year College Students?
Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study and a propensity score matching approach, this paper compares outcomes of four-year college students who earned either 1–10 credits or no credits at a community college.
Informed Self-Placement Today: An Exploratory Study of Student Outcomes and Placement Practices
This CAPR brief provides a taxonomy of various informed self-placement (ISP) systems, shares descriptive data from three colleges using ISP, and identifies important equity and access considerations for implementation.
Implementing Caring Campus With Nonacademic Staff: Lessons From Participating Colleges
Based on fieldwork at six institutions, this report describes how colleges are implementing Caring Campus/Staff, a program designed to engage nonacademic staff in improving interactions with students and fostering a culture of caring at community colleges.
Research Evidence on Community College Ask-Connect-Inspire-Plan Onboarding Practices
This brief describes the motivation, research evidence, and equity implications that underlie the Ask-Connect-Inspire-Plan framework as a useful strategy for community colleges.
The Fine Print on Free College: Who Benefits From New York’s Excelsior Scholarship?
Using data on students enrolled in two- and four-year colleges of the City University of New York, this essay assesses the distribution of benefits of the scholarship program in terms of who qualifies for, receives, and renews awards.
Improving College Success for Students in Corequisite Reading
Using administrative data, this report examines early college outcomes of students placed into corequisite reading courses at the 13 community colleges in the Tennessee Board of Regents system.
Preparing for Tomorrow's Middle-Skill Jobs: How Community Colleges Are Responding to Technology Innovation in the Workplace
Based on fieldwork at eight institutions, this report describes how community colleges are responding to workplace technology innovation by adapting their workforce programming, diversifying pathways to certificates and degrees, and addressing equity concerns.
The Role of Higher Education in High School Math Reform
Based on interviews with educators who are rethinking and revising secondary math coursework, this report describes the role of higher education in influencing high school math reform nationally and in three particular states.