Essays

Community Colleges Are Key Players in Strengthening the Humanities

While commentary on the dire state of the humanities in higher education continues, the role that community colleges might play in helping put students on the humanities track has been largely overlooked. How might community colleges strengthen their humanities offerings, and working with their four-year partners, better propel more of their students to successful transfer in the humanities?

How Can Community Colleges Afford to Offer Dual Enrollment College Courses to High School Students at a Discount?

Many community colleges offer dual enrollment courses at a lower tuition rate than is paid by post-high school students. But—as dual enrollment students have come to comprise a larger share of community college enrollments—can colleges afford to continue offering these courses at a discount? Clive Belfield, Davis Jenkins, and John Fink consider how community colleges can structure their programs to be more efficient and financially sustainable.

Moving Beyond Semester vs. Quarter System

Former research intern Hamnah Malik breaks down the potential benefits and drawbacks of the quarter system and discusses how a similar system of mini-semesters at community colleges could facilitate learning and promote student success.

What Happened to Community College Enrollment During the First Years of the Pandemic? It Depends on the Students’ Age

For the first time following the pandemic, we can examine detailed state- and college-level enrollment trends by age group using the latest federal data. Senior Research Associate and Program Lead John Fink examines these numbers and offers three major takeaways on how community college enrollment changed during the pandemic.

Many-Cause Explanations for Student Success

In this blog post, Christopher Quarles, a former community college teacher and current PhD candidate at the University of Michigan School of Information, shares findings from his recently published study on student capital, which he defines as the cumulative effect of all factors that account for student success.

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