The majority of community college students live paycheck to paycheck, and nearly half say a lack of finances could cause them to leave school, national survey results show.
The findings — included in a new report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCSE) — underscores the role finances play in educational attainment.
Continue reading Report: Many Community College Students Struggle Financially
Lawmakers in Utah are considering a pilot program to help low-income college students secure housing that’s both convenient and affordable.
The bill — sponsored by Republican state Rep. Mike Winder — would provide eligible students with a place to live near their college campus.
Residents would not have to dip into student loan funds to pay for housing. Instead the program would be largely supported by public funds and private donors.
Continue reading Utah Pilot Program Would Expand Housing Options for Low-Income Students
A growing number of colleges are using student data to identify and assist struggling undergrads, according to a recent New York Times report.
Georgia State University, the University of Arizona, and Middle Tennessee State are among institutions using analytics in an effort to boost student retention and graduation rates.
Continue reading Could Big Data Help Raise College Grad Rates?
How has the community college sector evolved in recent years? What are the challenges such institutions will face in the future? These were just some of the questions addressed during a recent Urban Institute panel discussion — “Community Colleges since the Great Recession.”
The panel, comprised of Urban Institute researchers as well as various community college stakeholders, discussed a number of issues including college financing and Pell grants, indicators for measuring institutional success, and efforts to increase ties between colleges and employers.
Continue reading Panel Discussion Explores Future of Community Colleges
A group of 30 selective colleges has launched a new alliance aimed at expanding access to postsecondary education.
The American Talent Initiative (ATI) — whose founding members include several Ivy League and public flagship universities — seeks to bring a total of 50,000 low- and moderate-income students to universities with graduation rates of least 70 percent by 2025.
Continue reading New Alliance Formed to Address College Access
Low-income and minority students continue to face barriers to higher education and the resulting gaps have contributed to diminished social mobility in the US, data show.
A new report — Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education — highlights strategies institutions can use to help reverse that trend. The 89-page publication uses federal statistics to demonstrate the scale of the problem and highlights strategies colleges and universities can use to help more underrepresented students get to (and through) college.
Continue reading New Report Highlights Access and Inclusion Strategies
The friendships freshmen form can influence their academic success and emotional well-being, new research suggests.
Janice McCabe, an associate professor of sociology at Dartmouth College (NH), has mapped out three common patterns students follow when choosing friends.
“Tight-knitters” mesh with a close group of friends who become like family. “Compartmentalizers” spend their time with two to four unrelated clusters of friends. And “samplers” develop one-on-one relationships with individuals who don’t necessarily know one another.
Continue reading New Research Shows College Friendships Influence Academic Success
An honor society for community college students wants to recruit more members, and organization leaders say the move has the potential to bolster US degree completion rates.
Members of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) are far more likely than their peers to earn a two- or four-year degree, data show.
But currently, only 11 percent of students eligible for membership join the honor society, according to a recent article published in Community College Week (CCW).
Continue reading Honor Society for Community College Students Hopes to Expand its Reach