CCRC in the News

CCRC's latest report describes five strategies for community college and K-12 leaders who want to advance equity in dual enrollment programs. This Inside Higher Ed story summarizes the report's findings. 

CCRC Senior Research Associate John Fink told Education Next that, as dual enrollment continues to expand, it is necessary to focus on the causes of persistent equity gaps that undermine the programs' goals, lest they be exacerbated.

CCRC Senior Research Scholar Judith Scott-Clayton testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on the need to simplify the FAFSA form as a matter of equity and college access. Several outlets—including Community College Daily and local CBS, Fox, NBC, and Scripps affiliates—covered the hearing. 

A new report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement found that, though there is still room for improvement, guided pathways has improved the student experience on many campuses. CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins told Inside Higher Ed that in order to keep making progress, colleges must focus on moving past program mapping as an end goal and implement engagement strategies such as experiential learning opportunities.

• Jenkins also spoke to Diverse Issues in Higher Education and University Business about the report.

CCRC Senior Research Scholar Judith Scott-Clayton spoke to the Oklahoma State Legislature about why colleges should cease asking prospective students about their criminal histories, Tulsa World reports. Campuses, Scott-Clayton explained, tend to be very safe places, and asking students for this information could discourage some from pursuing higher education. 

With its wraparound services and high-touch approach, CUNY's ASAP program has demonstrated its ability to improve students' likelihood of graduation and transfer to a four-year institution. However, as CCRC Director Tom Brock explains in this Washington Monthly story, ASAP hasn't been widely adopted due to the harsh realities of states' budgeting processes. 

This Inside Higher Ed opinion piece, which draws from the book Redesigning America’s Community Colleges, argues that for years, higher education initiatives failed to prioritize community college curricular reform, and the pandemic has made the consequences of that omission clear.

This Morning Journal story about students opting to attend Lorain County Community College in Ohio instead of four-year universities cites CCRC research that found students who enroll primarily in four-year institutions but take a limited number of courses at the two-year level benefit from doing so.  Spectrum News 1 also published a story on Lorain that relies on CCRC's work.  

CCRC Senior Research Scholar Davis Jenkins told WGBH that he doubts high school graduates' newfound interest in community colleges as an alternative to four-year universities will be enough to offset dips in enrollment across the sector. Some students intending to earn their bachelor's degrees are considering diverting to two-year institutions as a stopgap during the coronavirus pandemic. 

This Inside Higher Ed story describes a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper written by CCRC's Judith Scott-Clayton and Veronica Minaya that examines the relationship between mass layoffs and public college enrollment. The researchers found that for every 100 workers who lose their job, just one enrolls at a public college.