Community College Research Center

📣 New CCRC blog post! 📣 Read about CCRC's sessions at DREAM 2025, where researchers and partners shared how they are working with colleges and state systems on the next generation of student success research, including transfer, guided pathways, dual enrollment, post-completion value of programs, and online learning.

CCRC Dives Into the Next Generation of Community College Research at DREAM 2025 In five sessions at DREAM, CCRC researchers and partners explained how they are working with colleges, state systems, and other organizations on the next generation of student success research.

Strategies for Scaling Multiple Measures Assessment: Lessons from Arkansas - Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness This brief describes the state’s policy context, summarizes adoption efforts, and presents five strategies for other states that want to scale assessment reform.

“We are seeing movement away from generalized degrees for a number of reasons. One of which is … students come to college, they have interests, and taking this sort of grab-bag or smorgasbord of courses doesn’t enable students to pursue their interests,” CCRC's Davis Jenkins said.

Interest in HCC’s most popular degree is plummeting — and that’s by design Houston Community College is pushing more students away from its most popular degree, encouraging them to specialize in high-demand fields.

Join us at DREAM 2025! CCRC researchers will present on guided pathways, online learning, transfer, post-grad outcomes, and dual enrollment. Learn more about each session here: https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/dream-2025.html

Direct college placement boosts success, lowers cost Direct college placement leads to better outcomes, according to a recent study by the Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness.

New from CCRC! 📣 This Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative brief examines how students develop and use self-directed learning (SDL) skills—motivational, metacognitive, and applied learning processes that enable them to sustain effort, reflect on progress, set goals, and adapt their study strategies.

Beyond Engagement: Promoting Motivation and Learning in Online Courses This Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative brief examines how students develop and use self-directed learning (SDL) skills—motivational, metacognitive, and applied learning processes that enable them to sustain effort, reflect on progress,

A recent analysis sheds light on how two COVID-era policy changes affected community college students' eligibility for grocery benefits. Learn more in the latest blog post.

Congress Made More College Students Eligible for Food Benefits During the Pandemic. Should Those Changes Be Permanent? Congress Made More College Students Eligible for Food Benefits During the Pandemic. Should Those Changes Be Permanent? By Jennifer Hogg During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress temporarily expanded the generosity of the social safety net. This included, for example,

Skipping remedial courses impacts students' completion A recent analysis finds placing students directly into college-level courses, rather than a more precise placement system, is key to learners’ success.

A new policy brief describes how eligibility for changed among community college students because of broader college enrollment changes during the height of the pandemic and due to the temporary eligibility changes Congress made to SNAP.

Trends in Community College Enrollment and CalFresh Eligibility During the COVID-19 Pandemic - California Policy Lab This policy brief shows how eligibility for CalFresh benefits changed among community college students because of broader college enrollment changes during the height of the pandemic and due to temporary eligibility changes Congress made.

Student Success | Study: 6 Behavioral Changes Affect Student Retention, Morale on College Campuses

A recent study from the Community College Research Center finds establishing best practices and championing them among professors can impact student outcomes and faculty engagement and create a more positive environment. https://bit.ly/4fZDUaL

Bringing Multiple Measures Assessment to Scale in Arkansas: Perspectives from State Education Leaders - Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness State leaders discuss Arkansas’s adoption and scaling of multiple measures assessment and provide examples for states doing the same.

Newly released fall 2023 enrollment numbers offer the most detailed look yet at how individual community colleges and state systems have fared since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check out CCRC’s enrollment tool!

How Many Community Colleges Fully Recovered Their Enrollments Three Years After the Pandemic? Too Few. Newly released fall 2023 enrollment numbers offer the most detailed look yet at how individual community colleges and state systems have fared since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new national poll shows that parents of public school students overwhelmingly support dual enrollment and other programs that give families the chance to make more choices about students’ high school experiences and postsecondary paths.

What Parents Say They Want Their Kids to Get Out of High School A new poll finds that parents strongly support more options for their kids that might reshape the high school experience.

College Course Placement Based on Multiple Measures Assessment: A Synthesis of Two Experimental Evaluations - Center for the Analysis of Postsecondary Readiness This report synthesizes findings from two studies comparing the effects of traditional test-only course placement to MMA course placement.

A CCRC study found that nationally, 81% of dual-credit students go to college. In Mississippi, that number shoots up to 93%, meaning the vast majority of the state’s high school students who take college classes enroll in a two- or four-year university.

'Something to be proud of': Dual-credit students in Mississippi go to college at nation's highest rate Up to 93% of Mississippi high school students who take dual-credit courses go to college, the nation's highest rate.

According to an analysis released in October by the Community College Research Center, Texas had more new dual enrollment students than any other state in 2015, and had nearly twice as many as New York.

More Fort Worth high schoolers are earning college credit tuition-free. Here’s how. Lawmakers covered offered free tuition for low-income students. TCC covered it for everyone else.

Earning college credit in high school has become an increasingly popular option for students looking to cut tuition costs, especially in Idaho and Indiana.

"The pitch to communities and families and students is…get your first year of college out of the way in high school, or get it done in high school," CCRC's John Fink said. "That’s a very compelling affordability pitch to students and families and obviously that’s an important issue on everybody’s mind."

Community College Classes for High School Students Explode in Idaho, Indiana Popularity of earning early college credits grows dramatically in some states as students save money and jump ahead; other states lag.

The way dual-enrollment programs are designed and intended to work has a lot to do with their impact on both students and the institutions offering them, CCRC's John Fink told Inside Higher Ed.

“In some places the mindset is shifting toward access, what we call ‘deep dual enrollment,’” Fink said. “That approach has extra costs and requires a real commitment in terms of outreach and extra support. But there are increasing incentives to take it because of the better enrollment returns … it really is an opportunity for colleges to grow their pool of future students.”

Four-year universities invest in courses for high schoolers More four-year institutions are offering courses for high school students, dipping their toes into what has long been community colleges’ domain. But can they get those students to enroll after graduating?