CCRC in the News

The Association of American Colleges and Universities will work with the Center for Community College Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin on a two-year research project focused on guided pathways, Campus Technology reports. The guided pathways framework was outlined in CCRC’s 2015 book, Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success.

Legislators in Texas are proposing the state set aside $800 million a year for successful schools, but critics say such a plan would only exacerbate the divide between wealthy and poor districts. CCRC Research Affiliate Kevin Dougherty told Education Week that, despite the popularity of outcomes-based funding formulas like the Texas plan, evidence supporting their effectiveness is scant.

Economic cycles and community college enrollment trends tend to run opposite each other, CCRC Senior Research Assistant Takeshi Yanagiura told the Westchester County Business Journal; the economy is strong, and the number of students at New York’s community colleges is declining. 

This Pacific Standard story on the pitfalls of online education references CCRC Research Affiliate Shanna Smith Jaggars’ finding that community colleges leverage digital learning to boost enrollment.

Higher Education Today, a blog run by the American Council of Education, published a summary of CCRC's February working paper that examined the effects of delaying college enrollment. 

This Chronicle of Higher Education story delves into why colleges across the country are phasing out remedial courses and what, exactly, they’re replacing them with. It describes CCRC’s research on multiple measures assessment and placement, as well as on developmental sequence completion rates, as part of the broader discussion of how colleges can help students who are academically underprepared.

The Education Department has taken several steps to roll back accountability systems that monitor federal financial aid. In response, CCRC Senior Research Fellow Jordan Matsudaira and several other prominent economists submitted comments addressing why such accountability mechanisms are necessary to protect students and federal taxpayers. This Brookings article summarizes their arguments.

A rising number of high school students are taking courses for college credit before they finish 12th grade. But, as this Chronicle of Higher Education story points out, concerns about equity and course rigor linger in the dual-enrollment movement. CCRC Senior Research Scientist Elisabeth Barnett weighed in on how to make these classes work best for all students.

In a chapter in Terry O’Banion’s forthcoming book, 13 Ideas That Are Transforming the Community College World, CCRC Senior Research Scientist Nikki Edgecombe details “demography of opportunity,” or the idea that diversity must be reframed as an asset and that community college graduates should be viewed as key partners in equitable economic growth.

A Chicago mayoral candidate proposed merging the city’s public school system with its two-year college system in an effort to boost postsecondary attendance and decrease student debt. But critics called the plan “ridiculous,” and said it would create a bureaucratic nightmare. In this Inside Higher Ed story, CCRC Senior Research Associate Davis Jenkins and CCRC Senior Research Scientist Elisabeth Barnett weigh-in on the proposal's potential.