Dear Colleague,
Earlier this year, I shared news of the sudden cancellation of federal research grants to CCRC. While this situation has not changed, we are closing out 2025 with gratitude that several foundations recognize the value of our work and are providing funding that allows us to continue to produce high-quality community college research.
“Last Mile” Funding for Two Program Evaluations
Policymakers depend on rigorous, objective evaluations to know whether programs are implemented as intended and lead to improvements in student outcomes.
A recent grant from Lumina Foundation will allow CCRC to complete an evaluation of the Get a Skill, Get a Job, Get Ahead (G3) program in Virginia, which provides last-dollar scholarships and other support to students studying for credentials in high-demand workforce fields. The evaluation is particularly relevant now that Congress has authorized an expansion of the Federal Pell Grant program, known as workforce Pell, that covers short-term occupational training programs.
Lumina’s funding will allow CCRC, the Virginia Community College System, and researchers from the University of Pennsylvania to complete analysis and craft publications on the implementation of G3, the program’s outcomes, and considerations for policymakers, highlighting ways states can increase access and completion in their credit and noncredit workforce programs.
Strada Education Foundation awarded funds to complete a six-year evaluation of the Federal Work-Study program that was terminated four-and-a-half years into the project. The funding will allow the research team to complete data collection and analysis in a randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of receiving a Federal Work-Study offer. The study is the first to rigorously evaluate Federal Work-Study and comes amid proposals to slash funding for the program, which provides over $1 billion in support to over 400,000 college students with financial need each year.
New Projects to Study Students’ Program Choices, College Scheduling, and More
Last summer, CCRC released a new book, More Essential Than Ever: Community College Pathways to Educational and Career Success, that summarizes lessons from more than a decade of research on whole-college guided pathways reforms and identifies “next frontiers” for improving students’ education and career prospects after college. Ascendium Education Group awarded a major grant that will support an online learning community of “next frontier” colleges and research by CCRC to learn from their experience, measure progress, and develop implementation resources for the field. The Ascendium grant will also support a survey to understand how students choose a program of study and what factors influence their decisions over time, and an exploration into how course scheduling practices at community colleges may be optimized to help students complete a program of study more efficiently.
Five foundations are providing funding to support the dissemination of CCRC research to policymakers and educators. Crimsonbridge Foundation, ECMC Foundation, Ichigo Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, and Lumina Foundation each contributed to a two-year project to improve CCRC’s website; to produce a series of policy fact sheets and policy briefs that address major topics of interest to state and local policymakers (for example, the latest information on dual enrollment, student transfer, and economic returns to credentials); and to reach out to the field to share our research.
We couldn’t do our work without our foundation partners, and we are grateful for their continuing support. And we wish all of our friends and colleagues at community colleges and the organizations that support them a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year.
Sincerely,
Tom Brock
Thomas Brock is the director of CCRC and was commissioner of the National Center for Education Research at IES from 2013 to 2018.
