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Two Community Colleges Recognized for Excellence in Student Success and Equity

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

between fall 2020 and fall 2023. Southwestern Oregon Community College, an ATD member since 2012, has distinguished itself through its targeted support of adult learners and first-generation students. Chattanooga State saw its fall-to-fall persistence rate increase by 7.1 percentage points from 2019 to 2022. percentage points.

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Postsecondary Enrollment Continues to Grow, Most Notably at Community Colleges

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

Spring enrollments continue their progress towards recovering the levels of spring 2020. Total enrollment numbers remain down from 2020. increase, the first increase in this demographic since 2020. There was a marked increase among first-generation students and students of color in applications, admissions and enrollment.

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How Maricopa Community Colleges are Leading with Workforce-aligned Bachelor’s Degrees

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

In 2020, we partnered with Intel to introduce the nations first AI and machine learning associates degree and certificate program. Today, 61 percent of students entering our baccalaureate programs are first-generation and 41 percent are new to the community college system.

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Investing in Care to Combat Declining Enrollment in Higher Education

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

Similar to institutions nationwide, we saw enrollment plummet during the pandemic, dropping by 20% in 2020-2021. Community colleges often serve many students from low-income backgrounds, first-generation college students, and those balancing school with full-time jobs.

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AB 705: Bold Policy, Implications for Equitable Student Success

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

“When I first met with my advisor, I was excited to dive into my program,” says Maria, a first-generation community college student. But when I realized there was no pre-college math course to take, I panicked. I had always struggled with math. I thought, ‘How am I going to pass this class?’” Maria’s experience is not uncommon.

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The Case for IES: How Federal Education Data Informs Federal Policy

IHEP Institute for Higher Education Policy

Then-Senator Lamar Alexander  cited this research in his push to simplify the FAFSA, a goal that was ultimately achieved with the passage of the FAFSA Simplification Act in 2020. Without NPSAS, insights about the costs of FAFSA complexity may never have reached lawmakers, and the resulting reforms may never have passed.

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On a Mission: Damon L. Williams Jr., Takes on the World

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

Those lectures became a fundamental first step into his career in higher education, and in 2008, he became special assistant to the director of the TRIO programs at GSU, a series of federally funded programs that assist low-income, first-generation, or otherwise minoritized students attend and graduate college.

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