In her review of After Admission: From College Access to College Success, Melinda Mechur Karp praises the authors’ focus on community college procedures and mechanisms rather than just outcomes. According to Karp, the authors perform an important task in examining structural problems that inadvertently discourage student persistence and contribute to low completion rates.
However, Karp argues that the book falls short of its promise because it relies on comparisons with technical colleges that do not take into account the unique mission and mandate of community colleges, uses data inconsistently, and lacks evidence to back up many of its assertions.
This article appeared in the Teachers College Record.
