A recent report by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center looks at the role of community colleges in student completion rates at four-year institutions. Nationally, nearly half (46 percent) of students who earned a four-year degree also enrolled in at least one semester of community college in the past decade. Let’s take a look at […]

Gregory Hamann, president of Linn-Benton Community College (LBCC) in Albany, Oregon, reported success toward the completion goal at the AACC conference. Through a 2012 Lumina grant and a state reverse transfer agreement in Oregon, the number of graduates increased by 400 statewide. Other innovative projects brought to scale include finding a new pathway via the […]

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s recent Signature Report, Completing College: A State-Level View of Student Attainment Rates, finds that in five states, more than one in five students who began at a two-year public institution finished at a four-year institution. Kansas tops the list. In that state, one in four students who started at […]

Editor’s Note: Earlier this week, we wrote about the pros and cons of online courses, mentioning the success that Butte-Glenn and Foothill-De Anza community college districts, in California, have had. In today’s article, we explore the tools and supports that can make the online-education experience more successful. California community colleges offer more than 41,000 online sections […]

When we consider education in the 21st century, we can’t help but think about advances in technology and the Internet, and how we, as community college leaders, can harness these innovations to help our students be successful. Online courses in particular present a unique opportunity for community colleges, because we cater in large part to […]

Many students drop out of college not because they fall short academically but because they can’t pay the bill. Scholarship programs such as the one at Shoreline Community College, in Washington state, have the potential to improve completion rates by providing free tuition to high school graduates who are ready for college but are unable […]

As a community college president, I often meet with alumni to ask them about their experience at our institution and what mattered most to their success. Without exception, they never talk about a lecture, formula, theory or skill that they learned in class. Instead, they talk about that one faculty or staff member who made […]

In 2010, as part of the reaccreditation process, officials at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) asked graduates for feedback about their experiences at the school. Students thought the teaching was great but that advising needed improvement, says George Gabriel, vice president of Institutional Research and Student Success Initiatives. As an Achieving the Dream institution, NOVA’s […]

For the past 11 years, Renton Technical College (RTC), in Washington state, has been spearheading a teaching approach that might reform remedial education. The approach — called Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) — combines college-readiness coursework and credit-bearing job training or academic classes. “The classes are taught by a two-person team,” says Jodi […]

Access U, a program between Salt Lake Community College (SLCC) and the University of Utah, guarantees students admission and an annual $2,000 scholarship to the University of Utah after graduating from SLCC. It also offers support services to help keep students on the path toward completion and transfer. “We got the right people together and […]