Objective/Research Question: This study explores how trauma exposure impacts academic performance among community college students, specifically examining whether mental health wellbeing and resilience mediate this relationship. The study was guided by the following research question: How do mental health wellbeing and resilience mediate the relationship between trauma and academic outcomes?Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey design, we collected data from 674 students across four community colleges. The survey measured Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), College Trauma Exposure (CTE), mental health wellbeing, resilience, and self-reported GPA. Two serial mediation models were tested using hierarchical regression and Sobel tests.Results: Both ACEs and CTEs predicted lower GPA through indirect pathways. In the ACE model, the relationship with GPA was fully mediated by mental health and resilience. In contrast, the CTE model showed both direct and indirect effects on GPA. Additionally, ACEs significantly predicted CTEs, supporting a developmental cascade. Across models, mental health was a strong predictor of resilience, emphasizing that resilience is not a static trait but a developmental process influenced by psychological wellbeing.Conclusions/Contributions: Findings underscore the need for trauma-informed practices in community colleges, shifting to institutional responsibility for supporting mental health and fostering resilience. This study contributes a novel mediation model to the literature and calls for systemic strategies that recognize resilience as an outcome of supportive, psychologically safe educational environments. Future research should use longitudinal methods and explore moderating effects of identity and institutional context.
Objective: This study investigates the perspectives of faculty, administrators, and counselors on a mathematics reform that eliminated most remedial mathematics classes at a Hispanic-serving community college in California.Methods: This study uses qualitative analytical methods to examine interviews with nine mathematics faculty and 10 administrators, counselors, and professional development leaders at the college. Institutional statistics showed that overall mathematics enrollment fell, and course failure rates remained consistent before and after the reform. Interviews were analyzed using an iterative qualitative method to generate themes organized by participants' institutional roles.Results: The stakeholders' experience of the reform differed by role. Non-instructional staff highlighted the reform's success, focusing on the metric of throughput. Instructional faculty expressed frustration with the reform and primarily focused on course pass rates and students' level of preparation. Throughput, a metric the state used to assess the reform, improved.Conclusion/Contribution: We discuss implications in relation to how the reform effort shifted the institutional mission, and how this Hispanic-serving community college serves its students.
Objective: This study examines whether New Jersey’s state-funded merit-aid program, which was designed to benefit community college students, including first-time full-time student enrollment, associate degree completion, and transferring out. We compared STARS to programs in other states by applying a typology that categorizes state-funded merit-aid programs by whether they are designed to be inclusive of community college students. Methods: Using institution-level data between 2001 and 2021, we used propensity score matching to select comparable community colleges to be included in the untreated group, as well as difference-in-differences and event study approaches to test our hypotheses about the relationship between STARS program adoption and community college outcomes. Results: We found that New Jersey’s STARS programs increased White students’ enrollment and associate degree completion in community colleges relative to community colleges in states with merit-aid programs that disproportionately favor 4-year students. However, we did not find the same relationship for non-White students. It was unlikely that the enrollment increase was the result of community colleges siphoning off enrollments from other higher education sectors. Additionally, we did not find any evidence that STARS reduced students transferring out before completing credentials. Conclusions/Contributions: By examining a unique merit-aid program focused on community college students, we discuss implications to adopt and design more equitable financial aid policies to support community college enrollment, completion, and transfer. Our results help advance current scholarship by considering tensions among access, social mobility, and merit, while studying whether merit-aid programs can serve as an equitable mechanism for improving community college outcomes.
Objective/Research Question: The purpose of this study was to measure the relationship between High-Impact Practices (HIPs) and engagement at community colleges. The research question guiding this study was: Accounting for student background and institutional characteristics, how do student-level individual participation and institution-level average participation in HIPs relate to engagement measures of institutional practices and student behaviors at community colleges?Methods: Using data from 79,755 respondents to the Community College Survey of Student Engagement from 455 institutions, the relationship between HIP participation and engagement was tested via hierarchical linear modeling. This analysis measured the relationship for both student participation (student-level) and institutional average (institution-level) with three measures of engagement: academic challenge, support for learners, and student-faculty interaction.Results: Almost all student-level HIPs were statistically, significantly, and positively related to these measures; however, the magnitude of specific practices such as class attendance, tutoring, and service-learning held the highest practical significance. Institution-level measures held similar, positive relationships with engagement; however, these relationships were not as wide-spread across all HIPs.Contributions: For the last decade, researchers have related participation in high-impact practices (HIPs) to engagement among students at 4-year institutions. The same fundamental understanding for community colleges was not addressed in the literature until this research. From these results, the student-level relationships advance a fundamental understanding between HIP participation and engagement, whereas the institutional-level relationships highlight specific experiences to guide community college policy and practice. Equity concerns of underrepresented students' participation are also presented.
Research Questions: Using a sample of 56,807 community college students and 10,343 faculty from 105 community colleges, this study asked which faculty behaviors were associated with student learning, and if there were differences in those behaviors based on faculty type.Methods: Our two-stage analysis used data from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and the Community College Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (CCFSSE). We used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to identify faculty practices that predict student learning, with a random-effects ANOVA model and a means-as-outcomes model. After identifying the faculty practices that most strongly predicted learning, we identified differences in frequency of their use based on faculty type.Results: Three of the four strongest indicators of student learning were an emphasis on (a) support to help students succeed, (b) contact among students from different backgrounds, and (c) amount of study time. Talking about career plans with an instructor or advisor predicted career learning, academic learning, and personal development. Full-time faculty, faculty teaching career and technical education, developmental faculty, and faculty who had taught a course more than 20 times used these effective practices more than other faculty.Conclusions: Introducing students to institutional support for their success was the strongest predictor in the model, but part-time faculty, faculty teaching only college-level courses, and faculty with less experience in a course engaged in this behavior less often than their peers. Part-time faculty may need more information about support available to students, and college-level faculty could benefit by emphasizing support services.
Objective/Research Question: In this study, we sought to understand what factors motivate community college students' and alumni decisions to pursue graduate study. Specifically, we asked: What influences community college students and alumni to pursue graduate school? What role do community colleges play in influencing students' aspirations for graduate school?Methods: A qualitative research design was utilized, and data was collected from 16 focus group participants and 20 individual interviews.Results: Findings from this study indicate that students' aspirations for graduate school are shaped by multiple factors, including responsibilities outside of school as well as mentorship and guidance from institutional faculty and staff.Conclusions/Contributions: Findings from this study present implications for researchers and practitioners focused on supporting community college student success. Notably, this study prompts opportunities to consider the role of community college support on students' long-term goals, including pursuing graduate study.
Purpose/Research Question: This study adds to the literature exploring how mathematics learning assistantships can influence community college student development as explored through the lens of value. Thus, the research question for this study was: What types of value do undergraduate students at community colleges find engaging as learning assistants in mathematics courses?Methods/Results: This study utilized qualitative data collection and analysis, exploring value through a theoretical framework comprised of five value cycles ranging from "immediate" to "transformative." Participants primarily identified finding immediate value in learning about teaching, helping students, and developing personal skills through their experiences as learning assistants.Conclusions: Findings suggest that learning assistantships can be beneficial to community college students, even when they are not pursuing a pathway in education. Learning assistantships provide a supportive environment for students to learn a number of transferrable skills, such as confidence, communication, and leadership experience.
Objective/Research Question: This study explores the experiences of historically underserved community college students, specifically women and racially underrepresented minorities, enrolled in IT programs. It seeks to understand how these students perceive their academic experiences and how these influence workforce preparation and career aspirations. Research questions include: What are the curricular and non-curricular experiences of women and underrepresented minority students in IT programs? How do these students perceive the connection between their coursework and workforce preparation? How do barriers to success in IT affect their self-efficacy and career aspirations?Methods: A case study of 83 IT students was conducted using semi-structured interviews to explore experiences with interventions to improve advising, workforce preparation, and self-efficacy.Findings: Four themes emerged: (1) frustration with misguided academic advising; (2) students struggled with self-directed learning and lack of hands-on experiences in online classes; (3) coding labs, industry videos, and online tutoring enhanced workforce preparation; and (4) interventions boosted students' sense of self-efficacy and confidence in IT.Conclusions/Contributions: Effective interventions are key to enhancing IT community college students' workforce readiness and academic success for underrepresented students.
Objective: The purpose of this study explores how Latina/o faculty can serve as advocates for Latino men in a community college. The authors apply Bernal and Aleman's theoretical construct of transformative ruptures to demonstrate how Latina/o faculty choose to actively engage as change agents to support Latino men's experiences in one community college.Methods: Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 5 Latina/o community college faculty to explore how their practices created transformative ruptures for Latino men.Results: Findings demonstrate how faculty engaged Latino men by developing mentoring relationships, challenging institutional practices, and advocating that helped to reframe the narratives of Latino men.Conclusion/Contribution: This study highlights practices that community colleges can adopt to challenge institutional norms and practices to create a supportive campus for Latino men.
Objective: This study examines the financial outcomes of graduates from community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs compared to those from traditional 4-year university baccalaureate programs in Ontario, Canada. It aims to understand whether graduating from a CCB program influences earnings, student loan status, and loan balances relative to university graduates. Additionally, it explores how field of study and post-graduation pathways shape these outcomes. Methods: Using administrative data from Statistics Canada, this study analyzes four cohorts of Ontario college and university graduates from 2010 to 2013. It employs ordinary least squares regression models to estimate the relationship between CCB graduation and financial outcomes, controlling for individual and institutional characteristics. Results: CCB graduates experience a wage premium of 5% to 14% 2 years post-graduation compared to their university counterparts, conditional on postgraduate pathway. They are also 13 to 14 percentage points less likely to incur student loan debt, though no significant differences are observed in loan balances among those who borrow. The wage advantages are particularly notable in applied and technical fields. Conclusion: The findings suggest that CCB degrees provide competitive financial returns, challenging traditional assumptions about institutional quality. This study contributes to the literature on horizontal stratification in higher education and highlights the need for further research on mechanisms driving these results.
Objective: Dual credit (DC), or dual enrollment, is college-level coursework that confers credit toward both high school graduation and a postsecondary degree. As DC has grown rapidly across the country, this study provides needed evidence about how these courses shift resources and cost burdens among community colleges, school districts, and families. Methods: We use economic evaluation methods to assess the cost of DC across three delivery models, where DC is administered in (a) traditional comprehensive high schools; (b) Early College High Schools (ECHS); and (c) school-within-school ECHSs. We draw on statewide administrative datasets combined with a smaller qualitative data sample. Results: We find that implementation of DC requires substantial investment in existing staff personnel time as well as new staff positions, professional development costs, and other costs, across both K-12 and postsecondary sectors. In addition to requiring new resources, DC shifts the cost burden of educating high school students from school districts to community colleges. We find community colleges bear a disproportionate share of costs, especially in delivery models where community college faculty serve as the instructor of record—a model that is common in ECHSs. Contributions: The study informs the design of tuition agreements and instructor and student course assignment policies that promote equitable and sustainable distribution of costs and resources for students, school districts, and community colleges. Future research may explore how costs compare to measures of impact, especially for low-income and global majority students, who are historically underrepresented in higher education.
Objectives: This study seeks to unravel how community college STEM transfer-intending students navigate upward transfer pathways and how institutions can provide effective support and networks to enhance their experiences. Specifically, it aims to clarify how students' self-efficacy intertwined with different forms of support within and outside of college impacts the likelihood and timing of transfer.Methods: Using structural equation modeling to analyze survey data and 6-year student transfer outcomes from three 2-year institutions colleges, this study investigated the relationship among students' engagement with transfer support, networks, and services, transfer self-efficacy, and transfer outcomes. We also examined how that relationship varies between racial/ethnic groups.Results: Our findings suggest that greater transfer self-efficacy is associated with shorter transfer times to a 4-year institution for all students. The findings also revealed prominent racial inequities, showing that while transfer self-efficacy and transfer support services benefit everyone, students of color do not receive the same self-efficacy boost from institutional and personal networks as white students do.Contribution: This study generates new knowledge toward improving community colleges' transfer function by locating students' use of supports, networks, and services to boost their self-efficacy to ensure their progress toward vertical transfer and an eventual baccalaureate degree. Our findings also hold implications for how to foster an equitable and just STEM transfer pathway, especially how to resolve potential racial disparities within this unique and pivotal transfer process.
Research Question: Employees join or work for higher education organizations for various reasons or motivations. How do these employees' work motivations impact their propensity to speak up about various problems or ways to improve these organizations? Guided by self-determination theory, this study considers that question by examining the relationships between employee work motivations and their voice behaviors.Methods: To answer the research questions, data was collected via an online survey from 811 employees from a community college in the southwest of the US.Results: Regression analyses of data from those 811 community college employees show that employees' work motivations do indeed matter when it comes to their voice behaviors. However, not all types of work motivations equally matter. Indeed, of the six work motivation dimensions that were examined, only intrinsic motivation was significantly related to prohibitive voice behaviors, and only intrinsic and identified regulation motivation were significantly related to promotive voice behaviors.Contributions: This study makes several contributions to the community college literature by identifying key antecedents to community college employees' voice behaviors, and by shedding light on the role of community college employees' work motivations in shaping their work behaviors. It also provides specific implications for community college leaders regarding how to increase their employees' voice behaviors.
Objective: This qualitative study describes the participation and contributions of Catholic sisters as faculty and administrators at public U.S. community colleges during a 30-year period from 1969 to 1999. The purpose of the research is to write Catholic sisters into the history of America's public community colleges by examining their role in these institutions.Methods: Using interviews and document analysis, I examined the employment of 23 Catholic sisters in the community colleges of 12 states. The study was guided by a framework of feminist theory in an effort to correct the invisibility of the subjects' roles in community colleges.Results: Among the findings, the research revealed that many subjects desired employment in community colleges in order to contribute financially to their religious community, often after their own congregationally-sponsored Catholic school or college either closed or merged with another institution. Although most subjects did not go out of their way to reveal their religious identity on campus, when students and faculty became aware of it, they were often initially struck by the novelty of a Catholic sister leading or teaching at a public community college. Ultimately they seemed to perceive and relate to the women based on their professionalism.Conclusion: By focusing on Catholic sisters, the study offers a look at the role of a unique group of women in academia and helps paint a fuller picture of women faculty and administrators at the community college during a time period for which little such research existed.
Objective: As institutions of higher education experience decline in state funding, researchers have highlighted the significant effect it has had on faculty and students. This study examines differences in job satisfaction between contingent and non-contingent faculty and their demographic and personal characteristics of gender, race/ethnicity, academic discipline, and academic achievement at a large public 2-year college district in Texas.Methods: This study investigates how class (contingent vs. non-contingent faculty), gender, and race/ethnicity interact to predict job satisfaction, indexed by responses on the Job Satisfaction Survey (JSS). Intersectionality served as a theoretical framework in order to explore the complexities of faculty experiences as they relate to broader, overlapping patterns of societal oppression.Results: The findings reveal statistically significant differences between the job satisfaction scores of contingent and non-contingent faculty. Significant differences also exist between the job satisfaction scores of faculty based on academic discipline. Additionally, class and gender interact to predict job satisfaction.Conclusions: Systemic steps should be taken for legislative insight, and executive leadership teams should consistently empower contingent and non-contingent faculty groups to be advocates for themselves and embrace the principles of shared governance. These faculty groups can provide discipline-specific, industry, and operational insight that may not be obvious to leadership teams. Such insight will help students achieve their goals and will allow the State of Texas to compete effectively in the dynamic global economy.
Objective/Research Questions: Extending Garcia's notion of servingness, our study explored the prevalence and usability of artificially intelligent (AI) chatbots within all 234 HSI community colleges according to the most recent HACU list. The research questions for our study are: (a) Do HSI community colleges embed artificial intelligence in the form of chatbots into their websites to facilitate access to information? and (b) To what extent do HSI community college chatbots respond to the needs of Spanish-speaking stakeholders? Methods: We utilized a mixed-methods approach where we explored each institution's website to locate possible chatbot integration. Once we reviewed each home page, we employed a binary coding strategy (0 = no, no chatbot 1 = yes, chatbot integrated). Then, we interacted with each chatbot-first in English and then in Spanish-during normal business hours to explore their level of interaction and coded these interactions. Results: Findings suggest HSI community colleges rarely utilize AI chatbots, and when they do, they often do not facilitate access to Spanish-language information nor provide the option to chat with a Spanish-speaking human agent. Conclusions/Contributions: Few studies have explored how higher education institutions use chatbots to facilitate access to information, and even fewer studies explore linguistic equity of these AI chatbots. Our findings contribute to research on the use of AI chatbots within community colleges and HSI servingness, specifically demonstrating how providing Spanish and bilingual resources and services through AI chatbots can enhance servingness.
Objective: Most undocumented students enter higher education through community colleges, yet these institutions typically offer less support than four-year universities. Using Shumaker and Brownell’s theory of social support, we aimed to understand how resources at community colleges influenced undocumented students’ persistence. Specifically, we sought to answer the following research questions: (a) What social support is available to undocumented community college students? (b) What specific resources do undocumented community college students receive from providers of social support? and (c) How does the social support undocumented community college students receive, if any, influence their college persistence? Methodology: We used a participatory action research (PAR) approach and qualitative case study methodology. Findings: We found that undocumented community college students relied on emotional sustenance from family and friends. Furthermore, they piecemealed material support and information in the absence of institutional assistance. Our data showed that only a select few undocumented students earned social support within the community college setting due to their campus involvement. Contributions: Our findings have implications for higher education practice, including opportunities to provide social support through peer mentoring programs, more engagement with faculty, and the community college engaging students’ families. Finally, our findings also have implications for research, including recruiting a more diverse student population, exploring the experiences of undocumented student leaders at community colleges, and conducting research in varying state contexts.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to conceptualize faculty experiences at a two-year technical community college about student relations with professional and vocational students who have learning accommodations. Methods: This was a descriptive phenomenological qualitative study that used individual semi-structured interviews of 10 technical college faculty from a snowball sample method drawn from two-year southeastern technical community colleges. Data analysis was conducted through two cycles of coding using phenomenological approaches. Results: Faculty participants perceived they lacked formal or professional preparation to support students with learning accommodations. They did not receive training in their graduate program or professional development as faculty to acquire understanding of learning disabilities and student accommodations. The majority of faculty described their experiences of faculty-student engagement with students with learning accommodations as open, understanding, accessible, and supportive, and premised by knowledge gained in careers in public school education, special education, or mental health before joining their technical colleges as adjunct or full-time faculty. Contributions: The study contributes to existing research by expanding on the significance of the impact of faculty preparation and knowledge of learning disabilities to support students with learning accommodations at community technical colleges with non-traditional, highly transitory student learners.
Objective: This paper provides evidence on the efficacy and effectiveness of federal and state financial aid programs in supporting community college students. Method: I use a regression discontinuity design that takes advantage of discontinuities in the Pell Grant formula known as Automatic-Zero Estimated Family Contribution to estimate the effects of Pell Grant aid on community college student enrollment and financial and academic outcomes. Results: The study findings show that increases in grant aid boost associate degree completion, but these increases do not translate into significantly higher bachelor’s degree completion rates or lower student debt burdens. These results fall in line with most of the empirical literature on Pell Grant aid effectiveness finding only modest effects of marginal increases in financial aid on degree completion. Contribution: Findings further highlight the potential importance of combining efforts to improve financial aid programs and the transfer experience for degree-seeking, transfer-intending community college students.
