Publications

This guide introduces the Community College Program Mapper—an Excel-based data tool that helps colleges identify where students lack clear, goal-aligned plans and take action to strengthen pathways to post-completion success.

Based on survey and interview data from first-generation students who stopped out of four colleges in California, this brief examines students’ reasons for leaving, the role their social networks played in informing or supporting their decision, and how they thought about their futures—including the possibility of reenrollment.

This brief introduces an inventory of advanced infrastructure, energy, and agriculture (AIREA) jobs and identifies regions with well-aligned job demand and credential production to help policymakers support community and technical colleges in developing and expanding programs where trained workers are needed most.

Based on findings from a study examining the policies and practices impacting multilingual learners (MLs) at City Colleges of Chicago, this report provides insights for community college practitioners and policymakers on the goals and backgrounds of MLs, their experiences, and promising approaches to serving this population.

In this updated fact sheet, CCRC offers a short primer on the multiple missions of community colleges, what kinds of students they enroll, what outcomes they produce, and some of the major issues they face.

This updated fact sheet describes the growth of dual enrollment, the various models and funding mechanisms, and steps colleges and high schools can take to make dual enrollment more equitable.

This new fact sheet describes community college baccalaureate programs in relation to bachelor's programs offered by four-year colleges, demographic characteristics and earnings of graduates, and considerations for program improvement.

Drawing on 107 sources, this paper discusses the backgrounds and experiences of students and instructors in adult education ESL programs as well as institutional practices, curriculum and pedagogy, and policy contexts relevant to the programs.

This report describes how placement processes, departmental structures, ESL course sequences, and instructional models at five CUNY community colleges shape learners’ access to and experiences in corequisite or standalone college-level English courses.

CCRC’s 2024–2026 Biennial Report highlights major findings from the center’s recent research, including new measures of community college progress and emerging areas of study. It showcases how CCRC’s work is informing policy and practice nationwide and reflects on the center’s 30-year history. The report also includes research snapshots, outreach statistics, and a financial overview.