CCRC in the News
Is American Student Debt Too Big to Fail?
CCRC Senior Research Scholar Judith Scott-Clayton spoke to the German outlet Deutsche Welle about the significant percentage of borrowers who default on their student loans. She noted that default rates are higher among nongraduates and Black borrowers and emphasized the importance of making college more affordable to stem the student debt crisis.
Jill Biden Wants Free Community College for All
First Lady Jill Biden views affordable higher education and training programs as a key to America's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. CCRC Director Thomas Brock told The National Interest that free college policies should not be limited to community colleges and should instead make two years of college affordable for students attending community colleges or four-year institutions, up to a reasonable limit.
Don’t Forget Equity When Reforming Postsecondary Math
This Just Equations blog post summarizes CCRC's November 2020 working paper on improving developmental and college-level mathematics. Researchers found that broad-based reforms have been insufficient in eliminating inequities in developmental placement and completion between underserved students and their more advantaged peers.
How to Earn College Credit Through Dual Enrollment
U.S. News and World Report describes how dual enrollment programs operate and what opportunities they may offer to high school students. The cost of these programs for students tends to vary by high school, CCRC Senior Research Scholar Elisabeth Barnett said.
PolitiFact: Democrats Say 40% of People With College Debt Didn't Get Degrees
CCRC Senior Research Scholar Judith Scott-Clayton weighed in on the truthfulness of Democrats' claim that almost 40% of people with college debt never finished a degree. There's not a ton of information on this, but Scott-Clayton told PolitiFact that an analysis of NCES data supports the statement.
The New College Days: Reflecting on the First Semester of the 2020-2021 Academic Year
CCRC Director Tom Brock spoke to Connecticut Public Radio about what the state's decision to merge its 12 community colleges into one system means for faculty, students, and staff. He also described how the pandemic has affected community colleges across the country thus far.
‘It’s Just Too Much’: Why Students Are Abandoning Community Colleges in Droves
CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins told The Hechinger Report that, rather than creating a whole new set of problems for community colleges, the COVID-19 pandemic has simply accelerated and exacerbated the issues the sector was facing before the crisis began.
Getting More Students to and Through College: The Story of Developmental Education Reform in North Carolina
EdNC details the history of developmental education in North Carolina, including the state's use of corequisite remediation and multiple measures assessment and placement. CCRC Senior Research Scholar Nikki Edgecombe offered her perspective on the data that encouraged leaders in North Carolina to take up developmental education reform. Edgecombe also contributed to EdNC's stories on corequisite remediation and the future of developmental education in the Tar Heel State.
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.