Community colleges provide millions of students, including people of color and those from low-income backgrounds, with the skills to prosper in the U.S. labor market. At the same time, completion rates for community college students are low, some credentials lack labor market value, and some students run the risk of accumulating significant debt and defaulting.
A new report from the American Enterprise Institute argues that research and evaluation efforts have already identified ways that such performance can be improved, and many community colleges are experimenting with innovative practices that might enable them to improve such outcomes. Some provide more financial assistance to students in short-term or noncredit programs (which are generally not eligible for federal Title IV funding). Others provide greater guidance or other supports to students with a range of needs, and still others creatively engage major local and regional employers that also provide students opportunities for work-based learning and careers.
The report calls on college administrators to implement the most promising practices more broadly, while policymakers at the local, state, and federal levels should support their implementation.