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In the fall of 2020, community colleges served nearly five million students. This represents 29 percent of U.S. undergraduates. Although community colleges are providing these students with access to postsecondary education, the colleges’ graduation rates remain low. Among first-time, full-time students seeking degrees or certificates whose first postsecondary school is a two-year, public institution, only 31 percent graduate within three years.

What works to help community college students progress academically? This brief synthesizes 20 years of rigorous research, presenting new evidence about key attributes of community college interventions that are positively related to larger impacts on students’ academic success.