Student Perspectives on What Makes a Caring Campus: A Little Goes a Long Way

What do students consider important for creating a sense of welcome and belonging at college? Susan Bickerstaff, Selena Cho, Elisabeth A. Barnett, and Andrea Lopez Salazar spoke with students and found that relatively simple actions by faculty and staff can make a big difference.

How Do Dual Enrollment Course Characteristics Predict Course Outcomes and College Entrance?

As dual enrollment participation has expanded, so too have the types of programs and courses offered. Lauren Schudde and Wonsun Ryu discuss how differences in course set up have the potential to shape students’ dual enrollment experiences and overall course performance, as well as their subsequent college enrollment decisions.

Behind the Scenes of Guided Pathways Implementation at Greenfield Community College

Chet Jordan of Greenfield Community College explores the College's guided pathways reforms and discusses how they have evolved since CCRC's Guided Pathways Summer Institute.

Celebrating CCRC’s 2023 Graduating Researchers

Commencement season is here! This spring, CCRC is proud to celebrate four researchers who have completed their graduate degrees. These hardworking individuals finished their programs all while making valuable contributions to CCRC fieldwork, presenting at conferences, and poring over data.

The (50) State(s) of Transfer Data

Students are told that enrolling in a community college is an affordable onramp to a bachelor’s degree. But in reality, only a small percentage of students transfer and graduate. To fix the problem, experts first have to know what’s causing it. Alex Anacki and Jessica Steiger address the current lack of available transfer data.

Pathways Through the Bluegrass: Reform at Bluegrass Community and Technical College

Dr. Karen Mayo reflects on the 2022 Guided Pathways Summer Institute, sharing how Bluegrass Community and Technical College has since worked to implement pathways reforms and how their efforts have evolved.

Why Has Community College Enrollment Declined and What Can We Do About It?

Recent data suggest that students are returning to community colleges, though total numbers are well below pre-pandemic levels. Davis Jenkins explores the causes of enrollment declines in recent decades and examines ways colleges can build on successful reforms to improve student outcomes.

Five Models for Earning College Credit in High School: Evaluating Their Potential to Smooth the High-School-to-College Transition for Underserved Students

Earning college credit in high school enables more students—especially those historically underrepresented in higher education—to pursue college after high school. However, many students who stand to benefit the most from these opportunities often have limited access to them. Jessica Steiger breaks down a new CCRC brief that examines the potential of five different models to help underrepresented students enter college degree programs in high-opportunity fields.

Budgets as Value Statements: Mapping How Finance Systems Drive or Reduce Inequities in Community Colleges

There is no simple recipe for developing an equitable, effective community college funding system. But understanding the challenges facing community colleges and the finance systems that underpin them can help policymakers, educators, and advocates develop new funding approaches. Kate Shaw, Lauren Asher, and Stephanie Murphy share findings from their latest report, Mapping Community College Finance Systems to Develop Equitable and Effective Finance Policy.

Inside CCRC: Jessica Steiger on the Significance of Transitional Periods in Educational Equity

Jessie Steiger has always understood the power of transitions. From her own turbulent transition into high school to the challenges she faced as a transfer student at Penn State, the CCRC senior research assistant and PEAR fellow says the times she spent in flux tuned her in to the ways the education system is stacked against some students.

Search the CCRC blog

Popular tags

Explore trends in community college outcomes with our interactive data visualizations.

View all #dataviz blog posts

Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University
Box 174 | 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027

© 2025. All rights reserved.

Facebook-f Twitter Linkedin Youtube Instagram
Join our mailing list