Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Toledo, 2009. / Typescript. "Submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for The Master of Education in Higher Education." "A thesis entitled"--at head of title. Bibliography: leaves 76-80.

<p> The inability of California Community Colleges to produce equitable outcomes for Latina/o and African American students, and provide a successful pathway to higher education, is an educational problem. Although research shows many factors influence student success in community colleges, many of those factors are directly influenced by the availability of resources to support a variety of services, programmatic offerings, transformational practices, and quality facility and staff. The primary hypotheses of this study pertained to whether spending patterns differed with respect to either equity considerations, or to student outcomes. It was observed that colleges which considered equity in their budgetary decisions spent a significantly higher percentage of their core expenditures on academic support than did no-equity colleges however equity considerations were not observed to be related to student outcomes. Student outcome did not show significant relationships with most expenditure types, except lower expenditures on other core expenses were predictive of higher Student Progress and Attainment Rate, after controlling for input/environmental variables.</p>

<p> Using a phenomenological method, this study explored the higher-education affordability perceptions of a purposively-collected group of 19 students at the pseudonymous Crestview Community College (CCC) in Colorado. The defining themes of the study were: (a) knowledge of the College Opportunity Fund (COF) program and perceptions of higher-education affordability in the Colorado context, (b) how participants learned about and implemented college selection, financing, and success strategies, (c) family finances and their impact on work and college decisions, (d) participant views on the financial aid process, and (e) benefits of attending college. </p><p> The findings were: (a) the COF was not viewed as a significant source of support or well-understood as the State of Colorado&rsquo;s contribution to college students, (b) participants described difficulty in high school learning and implementing a college selection and financing strategy with some mitigation of those failures by key adults in their lives, (c) CCC was viewed as the default college choice because of price, location, dual credit experience, and peer recommendations, (d) family structural and financial context strongly influenced participants&rsquo; perceived options and decisions regarding college selection and work, (e) participant perspectives on federal financial aid and college affordability varied drastically between Pell Grant recipients and non-recipients, (f) participants uniformly held a negative perception of student loans, and (g) participants were motivated to stay in college by hope of occupational and financial benefits and discouraged by fear of debt and post-graduation joblessness.</p><p>

<p> Approximately 80% of students attending community colleges intend to earn a bachelor&rsquo;s degree; however, only 17% attain the goal (Horn &amp; Skomsvold, 2011). The Complete College America (2011) initiative signaled a paradigm shift from access to higher education to public policy defining success as completion, graduation, and transfer. Despite efforts made, community colleges are falling short of reaching their two-year to four-year college completion goals (Monaghan &amp; Atwell, 2015). Attention to transfer students and their role in the college completion agenda has become a focus of recent research. There is, however, minimal understanding of transfer admission pathways such as Joint Admission programs and their relationship to degree completion. </p><p> This non-experimental causal-comparative ex-post facto study investigated the relationship between a Joint Admission Agreement (JAA) program and two-year to four-year degree completion and time to degree completion, and was guided by these research questions: 1. Is there a relationship between JAA student participation and bachelor degree completion? </p><p> 2. Is there a difference in bachelor degree time-to-completion between JAA and non-JAA transfer students? </p><p> 3. To what extent and in what manner is variation in bachelor degree completion rates explained by four-year GPA, total number of transfer credits, degree type, Pell and demographics on JAA and non-JAA? Ex-post facto data of JAA and non-JAA transfers (n = 846) who earned an associate&rsquo;s degree and transferred to a state flagship institution from 2011 to 2015 were collected and analyzed using SPSS software. A t-test analysis indicated participation in JAA (n = 121) showed a positive, significant relationship to four-year degree completion, t = 5.038, p = .001, M = .70 compared with non-JAA M = .47. A t-test analyses showed JAA t = 4.28, p = .001, M = 2.12 had .33 of a year faster rate of time-to-completion over non-JAA, M = 2.45. Results of ANOVA analysis showed demographics has no effect on time-to-degree completion. </p><p> This study filled a gap in the literature in finding a positive relationship between JAA participation and both four-year degree completion and time to completion. The results may suggest consideration of both system and institutional policy initiatives to promote and encourage JAA participation.</p><p>

<p> The California Community Colleges funding model has rich historical, political, and cultural ties embedded in the model foundation. The general funding of the California Community Colleges is enrollment-based and shaped by a long history of legislation based on the K-12 education model. The funding is not tied to performance or outcomes and is driven by how many students are enrolled. Although there has been increased categorical funding in the California Community Colleges over the past 3 years to improve student success and equity, the overall persistence or completion rates of students remains low. Research has demonstrated that many other states are implementing an outcome-based or performance-based funding model to reduce the gaps and improve student success and fiscal sustainability. The purpose of the study was to explore the gaps in the current California Community Colleges funding model and the effect of these gaps on student success and fiscal sustainability for the California Community Colleges. The study additionally investigates effective models in order to design and develop a funding model that will support the mission and outcomes of the California Community Colleges system while planning for fiscal strength.</p><p>

<p> This qualitative, phenomenological case study was designed to illuminate the perceptions and experiences of eight undocumented community college students navigating the California public higher education systems with the aim of identifying factors associated with college persistence. These factors fall into three categories: financial, academic, and legal. The specific problem of interest is the lack of undocumented student persistence in California community colleges. Given that college students depend more on financial aid to reach their college goals; it is important to understand the relationship between California State funding and undocumented student persistence. A qualitative case study design enabled the exploration of undocumented students&rsquo; perceptions and experiences with financial assistance for college due to the new and changing federal and state immigration policies, and the academic and legal factors that contribute to their persistence. Emerging themes from interviews conducted with eight undocumented student participants were analyzed and coded. The financial factors contributing to persistence included understanding the financial aid process for undocumented students, information on grants and scholarships, and knowledge of AB540 for lower college fees. Academic factors contributing to persistence included support from: Faculty, Dream Club membership, Puente Project, EOPS, and Tutoring Centers. A welcoming campus environment was also a factor in having students feel safe to continue their education. Legal factors contributing to persistence included: knowledge of federal and state laws such as DACA, AB540, and the California DREAM act application for state aid. </p><p> One limitation of qualitative research is the reliance on small participant samples, which allows for in-depth explorations but limits generalization. The use of standardized instruments to capture the experiences of undocumented students would also facilitate comparison studies involving students at various institutions and in different states. Given the numerous variations in state and institutional policies this would help researchers, college administrators, and practitioners understand how different policies and practices affect the educational trajectories of undocumented students.</p><p>

This “View From the Field” column is part of a series highlighting the important roles stakeholders (e.g., peers, families, community members) and school staff have in supporting the implementation of effective practices (i.e., evidence-based, research-based) for students with disabilities. In previous columns in this series, Rowe et al. (2022) described the various roles peers have in the implementation of effective practices. Authors highlighted strategies for developing and sustaining peer support programs in schools to support students with disabilities. Garbacz et al. (2022) followed with a column focused on approaches to promote parent collaboration in the implementation of effective practices. In this column, we describe how different community stakeholders can successfully partner with school intervention teams to improve transition outcomes. We offer examples of effective practices community stakeholders can implement to support successful transition outcomes.

About the Guest: Dawn A. Rowe, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the department of Educational Foundations and Special Education at East Tennessee State University. Her research and scholarship are focused on three main areas of research: evidence-based practices and predictors of postschool success for students with disabilities, life skills interventions (e.g., goal setting, self-management, communication skills), and professional development (e.g., families, in-service and pre-service educators). She has over 20 years’ experience working in the adult service system and as a teacher and transition specialist for youth with disabilities in the public-school system. Dr. Rowe serves as the academic editor for the Council for Exceptional Children’s Research to Practice Journal, TEACHING Exceptional Children. Dr. Rowe’s publications have focused on transition assessment, transition skill instruction for low incidence disabilities, and family engagement.

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