Two years ago, the Community College Research Center published a guide to help college leaders understand the costs involved in implementing guided pathways reforms. The guide was based on research at six community colleges, but only one of these was a smaller college. Small colleges lack economies of scale that can generate revenue to support investments in technology, staff training, and release time for staff to participate in reforms. And implementing guided pathways at small colleges means that many faculty and staff need to take on new roles to plan and manage the process.
This report describes how small colleges can fund and sustain guided pathways reforms. It is based on activities at three small Ohio community colleges that have made large-scale changes in practice based on the guided pathways model over the past several years. The colleges—North Central State College, Washington State Community College, and Zane State College—successfully implemented the reforms despite declining enrollments, decreased tuition revenue, and a reliance on performance funding.