Guided Pathways
Guided pathways is a whole-college redesign framework designed to help all students explore, choose, plan, and complete programs aligned with their education and career goals efficiently and affordably.
Why We Study Guided Pathways
Over nearly 30 years, CCRC research has helped solidify the idea that the best way to improve outcomes for students across a community college or state is to redesign programs, instruction, and student supports at scale. Small programs that touch a few students are not enough.
CCRC’s early research on guided pathways found that colleges can improve momentum into and through programs by implementing a complementary and aligned set of practices across students’ time in college, with a focus on removing barriers to completion. To achieve further improvements, colleges need to ensure that students get the opportunity to explore programs and careers and complete programs that have value for employment and further education.
The last 10 years of research—the foundation for CCRC’s new guided pathways book, More Essential Than Ever—have led to five frontier strategies for strengthening program value. The next frontiers for further improvement in community colleges are:
- Ensuring programs are worth completing by being aligned with the requirements for living-wage jobs and transfer in a major in the student’s field of interest.
- Facilitating teaching and learning that enables students to develop the versatile skills needed for success in good jobs and further education.
- Giving prospective and entering students a reason to enroll and persist by helping them explore career and academic opportunities, connect with people and programs in fields of interest, and chose and plan a program of study.
- Ensuring busy working students can complete their programs in as little time and cost as possible.
- Giving high school students a reason to go to college right after graduation by rethinking dual enrollment as an on-ramp to college and career success.
CCRC is continuing to explore and refine these strategies through research on ways to improve on-time completion, increase access to dual enrollment, strengthen the value of programs, understand students’ program choices, and broadly scale next-generation guided pathways reforms at several colleges.
CCRC’s new book takes stock of nearly a decade of research on the guided pathways model for whole-college transformation. A related blog series previews lessons on increasing timely and affordable completion of programs that prepare students for post-completion success.
Ten Years of Research on Guided Pathways
What we've known and we've been studying for many years at CCRC is just the importance of community colleges in their communities. They really are anchor institutions. They pull together employers, K-12 schools, local universities, and just serve as the place to expand opportunity.
John Fink
Senior Research Associate and Program Lead
Reimagining Onboarding:
The Ask-Connect-Inspire-Plan Framework
Effective college onboarding is a major component of guided pathways. The Ask-Connect-Inspire-Plan framework is a new way of onboarding students focused on helping students build momentum into a program from the start. Here are the major changes in practice.
Conventional Practice
Program Onboarding
ASK
Conventional Practice
Academic and career exploration assistance is mainly limited to information on websites and self-directed search.
Program Onboarding
Every student is asked about their interests, strengths, and aspirations and is guided to programs and people at the college with similar interests.
CONNECT
Conventional Practice
Students are expected to forge relationships in their field independently.
Program Onboarding
From the start, colleges organize opportunities for all students to meet with faculty, students, alumni, and employers in fields of interest to them.
INSPIRE
Conventional Practice
Students spend the first term/year completing developmental and general education prerequisites.
Program Onboarding
Every student takes at least one course in term 1 on topics of interest that “light their fire” for learning.
PLAN
Conventional Practice
Some students are helped to develop first-semester schedules, followed by self-guided navigation.
Program Onboarding
Colleges help every student to develop a full-program plan used to schedule classes and monitor progress.
Guided Pathways Resources
This discussion guide is designed to help community college faculty, staff, and administrators
consider which ideas in the book might be most helpful for improving student success.
This dashboard allows users to explore awards and earnings by program, award type, and
student group. Community colleges can consider what awards they are granting and where they lead.
This workshop series provides guidance on how to reimagine program onboarding to help students choose a program of study; connect with faculty, students, and others with similar interests; take a course that “lights their fire” for learning; and build a full-program educational plan.
This guide is intended to help community college leaders understand the up-front and recurring costs involved in implementing guided pathways reforms and develop plans for funding and sustaining them.
Further Reading
Guided pathways
Our Guided Pathways Experts
Read More
View all of our publications on guided pathways.