CCRC in the News
How Are Community Colleges Paying for Guided Pathways?
Higher Ed Dive describes findings from CCRC's report estimating the cost of implementing guided pathways. A companion report includes resources for community college leaders who want to develop and sustain plans for funding the reforms.
How Two-Year Colleges Can Mitigate Student Enrollment Declines
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education contextualizes the drop in community college enrollment in the midst of the pandemic. CCRC Director Thomas Brock explains why this loss of learners matters not only for institutions but also for individual students and families.
Low-Income Community College Students Most Likely to Cancel Plans
In a November blog post, CCRC Research Affiliate Clive Belfield and CCRC Director Thomas Brock used census data to examine why students decided not to enroll in community colleges this fall. Inside Higher Ed explains what they found.
How the Pandemic Worsened—and Highlighted—Community Colleges’ Chronic Challenges
This Chronicle of Higher Education story contextualizes community colleges' pandemic enrollment woes. Many institutions were surprised to see enrollment drop so sharply this fall because they have historically struggled to track their students, CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins said.
Community Colleges Expected to Have Their Moment in Biden White House. But in Parting Salvo, DeVos Calls Ideas Like Free Tuition ‘Insidious’
President-elect Joe Biden plans to tap Cecilia Rouse, a higher education finance expert, to chair the Council of Economic Advisers, The 74 reports. CCRC Senior Research Scholar Judith Scott-Clayton said Rouse is a strong choice for the role and signals that the incoming administration will integrate higher education policy into its broader economic agenda.
Do Professors With a ‘Deficiency’ Mindset Prevent Community College Students From Earning Credit?
This EdSurge story relies on CAPR's latest paper on multiple measures assessment and placement to explain how placement tests act as a barrier for many aspiring community college students. CCRC Senior Research Scholar Elisabeth Barnett described CAPR's findings.
Developmental Education Reform Improved Passing Rates
A new study indicates that students in Florida are succeeding in introductory math and English courses at higher rates since the state adopted developmental education reform in 2013. CCRC Senior Research Associate Elizabeth Kopko told Inside Higher Ed that Florida's approach is notable because, rather than zeroing in on college preparedness, it focuses on boosting student supports and the quality of teaching and learning.
Columbia May Look Whiter and Wealthier Next Year. Here’s Why.
COVID-19 has forced college recruiting to go virtual, which may hurt low-income students and students of color, as these students not only belong to demographics disproportionately harmed by the pandemic but also have less frequent access to reliable technology. CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins told The Columbia Spectator that in order to be agents of social mobility, elite institutions like Columbia need to invest in recruiting diverse students and begin connecting with them earlier in their high school careers.
What Biden Administration Can Do to Help Americans Pay off Student Loans
CCRC Senior Research Scholar Judith Scott-Clayton spoke to NPR about the broader economic consequences of student debt. A startling percentage of borrowers who default on their student loans have relatively small amounts of debt and never finished a degree.
Tumbling Community-College Enrollment Highlights Pandemic’s Broad Impact
CCRC Director Thomas Brock told The Wall Street Journal that, in hindsight, the drops in community college enrollment are not particularly surprising, considering the pandemic's outsized effect on people of color and lower-income Americans. Typically, community college enrollment increases when there is an economic downturn, as people return to school to reskill; that has not been the case this fall.
