Essays

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.

First-Generation College Students’ Personal Networks and Their Influence on the Use of Student Supports

Much is unknown about the nature of first-generation students' personal networks, but a new CCRC study is changing that. CCRC Senior Research Assistant and PEAR Fellow Melissa Herman and Senior Research Associate Hoori Santikian Kalamkarian discuss the impetus for the study and share some preliminary findings in this blog post.

How South Puget Sound Community College Made Its Selective Nursing Program More Diverse While Making Its Students More Successful

In this blog post, Dean of Allied Health & Nursing Marriya Wright explains how South Puget Sound Community College's shift to admission criteria based on course grades led to huge increases in diversity and student success.

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