Document Tag: community college

What Students Want: Students’ Experiences and the Implications of Enhanced Holistic Supports for Non-Degree Pathways (2024)

What Students Want: Students’ Experiences and the Implications of Enhanced Holistic Supports for Non-Degree Pathways unveils that students and workers pursuing non-degree pathways are navigating higher education systems not designed with their realities in mind, and provides insights on the supports they need to succeed.

Highlights include:

The need for financial and holistic supports like childcare, transportation, and coaching.
Real stories from students balancing family, work, and education to build better futures.
Policy recommendations to make non-degree programs equitable and accessible.

Food and housing insecurity among community college student-veterans (2024)

In this manuscript, the authors examined the rates of food and housing insecurity experienced by student-veterans enrolled at community colleges in fall 2020. The results of a multi-institutional survey of student-veterans at 113 community colleges suggested that 37.6% of community college student-veterans experienced food insecurity and 52.5% of community college student-veterans experienced housing insecurity. Additionally, 17.8% of community college student-veterans experienced homelessness in the past year. The results also suggest that community college student-veterans who experienced food and housing insecurity had lower grade point averages, higher rates of clinically significant generalized anxiety disorder, and higher rates of clinically significant major depressive disorder. Examples of strategies to support community college student-veterans experiencing food and housing insecurity are included.

Advancing Sexual Health Education in Arkansas’s Community Colleges: Addressing Disparities and Promoting Well-Being (2024)

This practice brief explores the potential benefits of implementing comprehensive sex education programs in Arkansas’s community colleges to address disparities in health care access, health outcomes, and health literacy, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Against the backdrop of restrictive abortion policies and significant gaps in reproductive health care services, the importance of equipping young adults with accurate information about sexual and reproductive health is emphasized. Drawing upon existing literature and theoretical frameworks, this brief offers recommendations for community college administrators, educators, student support services, and community partnerships to advance sexual health education initiatives. By embracing evidence-based interventions and fostering collaborative partnerships, community colleges can empower students to make informed decisions about their sexual health and relationships, contributing to a healthier, more equitable future for all residents of Arkansas.

Mental Health Outcomes for California Community College Students Experiencing Unmet Basic Needs (2004)

In this brief, we examine findings from fourteen California community colleges (CCCs) that completed the Healthy Minds Study (HMS) survey in Spring 2022. We present findings on student mental health as it relates to basic needs such as financial security, food security, and social connections. Our findings illustrate the overlapping elements of the student experience and support the importance of coordinated and collaborative action to support student well-being.

The Revenue Implications of Community Colleges’ Reliance on Local Funding (2024)

In this study, we leverage national data sources to examine the relationship between community colleges’ level of reliance on
local funding and their total institutional revenue, focusing specifically on community colleges educating the largest shares
of low-income and racially minoritized students. We show that local funding is positively related to total institutional revenue
for the pooled sample including all public community colleges, suggesting that local appropriations can supplement state
appropriations in ways that benefit a historically underfunded sector of higher education. However, we also show that community colleges’ level of reliance on local funding is negatively related to their total institutional revenue for rural community
colleges and community colleges serving an above-average share of low-income students. Our findings align with scholarship
in K–12 finance, indicating that local appropriations, such as property taxes, may exacerbate inequities facing the institutions
serving larger shares of economically disadvantaged students.

A Systematic Review Examining Multi-Level Policy and Practice Recommendations, and Calls for Research, on Food Insecurity at American Community Colleges (2024)

Purpose: The purpose of this systematic literature review is to examine policy and practice recommendations, along with calls for future research, aimed at addressing food insecurity for community colleges across the U.S. Argument/Proposed Model: This article will provide a detailed methodology for the systematic literature review, as well as the findings gathered from a range of peer-reviewed articles on this topic. The authors analyzed six significant themes that surfaced from the current literature related to policy and practice at the federal, state, local, and institutional levels. Conclusions/Contributions: Six chief themes are discussed in-depth, including but not limited to: important tools and approaches for marketing and communications, data-driven decision-making, and the augmentation of food support with other public benefits and institutional resources. These thematic findings address the issue of food insecurity on community college campuses, and also offer a range of techniques and areas for consideration. This systematic literature review offers a compilation of policy and practice recommendations steeped in actionable strategies for researchers, policymakers, campus leaders, and practitioners alike. The strategies can be implemented and/or tailored to meet the needs and nuances of any community college population.

Enrollment at Community Colleges Might Improve, but Challenges Remain for Students (2024)

Enrollment at community colleges has increased for two years in a row since the pandemic. In fact, the latest fall 2023 data show that the growth in undergraduate enrollment is the highest at community colleges. The upward trend is reassuring, but the gain hasn’t yet made up for the steep declines during the pandemic: the sector still has around 650,000 students fewer than fall 2019.

Emergency Support, with a Human Touch (2024)

Faculty and Students Together (FAST) Funds offer emergency aid to students. From bus passes and groceries to textbooks and rent, FAST Funds jump in to help keep students on track. The first FAST Fund was started seven years ago by AFT Local 212 at Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC). That first year, the fund helped about 26 students with around $7,000 of emergency aid. Growth has been tremendous, especially in the last few years. In July and August 2023 alone, MATC’s FAST Fund helped 433 students with $105,000 in aid. (For a short case study describing how the Local 212/MATC FAST Fund got started and how quickly it has grown, see go.aft.org/30a.)

We sat down with Liz Franczyk, director of the Local 212/MATC FAST Fund, to learn how the fund meets students’ needs and how more AFT unions can start their own FAST Funds.