CCRC in the News
Community Colleges Have Lost a Lot of Students During the Pandemic. Here's How One Campus Has Kept Theirs
Los Angeles Community College credits its caring, "customer service" approach to outreach for its success in keeping students enrolled during the pandemic. CCRC Director Thomas Brock told LAist that adopting outreach strategies like LACC's could help institutions retain students and bring back those who have left.
Financial Aid Applications Are Down. Does That Mean Fewer College Students?
Amid the pandemic, FAFSA applications are down 9% overall and even more among low-income students and students of color. CCRC Senior Research Scholar Elisabeth Barnett told Marketplace that pandemic-related job losses not only hurt prospective students' economic outlook but also take a mental toll that makes it harder to plan for the future and fill out a complicated form like the FAFSA.
Doubts Raised Over US States’ Plans to Merge College Systems
In the wake of enrollment declines and budget woes, some states are considering consolidating their higher education systems. But CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins told Times Higher Education that once all the costs are accounted for, mergers don't always save states much money.
Motlow Heralded for Innovation for Adult Students
This Tullahoma News story describes findings from CCRC's January report on how guided pathways colleges support adult students. Motlow State in Tennessee is among the institutions that have implemented targeted supports recognizing the challenges and opportunities of adult learners.
Community Colleges at a Crossroads: Enrollment Is Plummeting, but Political Clout Is Growing
With First Lady Jill Biden championing their cause and the free college movement gaining national attention, community colleges are in the spotlight. But the steep enrollment declines caused by COVID-19 threaten to upend the sector, which could be disastrous not just for students and faculty but also, CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins told The Washington Post, for democracy.
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.