Report: Community colleges must expect more
Many community college students say their coursework is challenging, but evidence suggests institutions can do more to promote student success. Findings from High Expectations, High Support, the 2008 Community College Survey of Student Engagement, show that 67 percent of full-time students spend 10 or fewer hours preparing for class in an average week. Similarly, 39 percent of students say peer or other tutoring is "very important," but only 7 percent say they often use tutors.

Road to redemption for California community college
Two years after losing its accreditation, Compton College is on the road to improvement. Now managed by El Camino College, the two-year institution has increased enrollment by 31 percent, hired additional faculty, revamped several campus buildings and enhanced its vocational offerings.

Strategies to improve education pipeline for Latinos
A report from Excelencia in Education examines how eight Hispanic-serving institutions located along the U.S./Mexico border are leading the nation in Latino college enrollment and degree attainment. The strategies profiled in Accelerating Latino Student Success at Texas Border Institutions: Possibilities and Challenges may help other postsecondary institutions increase college access and success for Latinos.

Study dissects a city in crisis
In New York City, nearly a quarter of a million 16- to-24-year-olds are considered "disconnected" from society-without education or employment. Disconnected Young People in New York City: Crisis and Opportunity from JobsFirst NYC identifies five priority populations that are at high risk of becoming disconnected and summarizes strategies offering a second chance.

Redefining college readiness
A new Child Trends report, A Developmental Perspective on College and Workplace Readiness , identifies critical gaps in the criteria postsecondary institutions use to assess applicants' competency. In addition to traditional assessments, the report says factors for determining college readiness should include positive mental health, resilience, social competence, creativity and sense of purpose.

Study debunks model minority myth of Chinese Americans
Chinese Americans face a glass ceiling, unable to realize full occupational stature and success to match their efforts, says a study from OCA and the University of Maryland. A Portrait of Chinese Americans finds that twice as many Chinese American adults have college degrees compared to the general population, yet recent Chinese American immigrants represent the largest number of U.S. adults without the equivalent of a high school education.

Educational attainment levels for the states
» The United States is likely to face an unprecedented shortage of college-educated workers by 2020. The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems estimates the need to educate nearly 800,000 more college graduates each year from now through 2025 to compete with top-performing nations. Find out how your state is doing in college attainment.

College ambitions on hold for undocumented students
» Undocumented students are 10 times less likely to attend college than their peers.

Source: Tuition Equity Legislation: Investing in Colorado High School Graduates through Equal Opportunity to Postsecondary Education

High school graduation rates remain stagnant
» An NCES report shows that 9.3 percent of 16- through 24-year-olds were not enrolled in a high school program and had not completed high school in 2006 versus 9.4 percent in 2005. The report also reveals that students living in low-income families are seven times more likely than students in high-income families to drop out of high school.

Source: Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 2006

Dropping in and dropping out
» Up to 75 percent of low-income students who start a community college degree or certificate program either drop out or fail to complete the program within five years.

Source: Opening Doors Update from MDRC