Programmed for Success
Community colleges are relying more and more on technology to help their students succeed.
Supported byProgrammed for SuccessByPaulette PerhachIf you’re an 18-year-old student with no children, two college-educated parents and only one task over the next four years — to get a degree — it might not be that difficult to navigate registration, find time to get to the bookstore, or stay late after class for extra help, all leading to a high likelihood that you’ll graduate.But if you’re a single parent with a full-time job, or the first person in your family to go to college, and are perhaps attending part-time, it’s a different story.Community college students across the country struggle to complete their programs — only 25 percent of those who start as full-time students at public two-year institutions graduate, according to the United States Department of Education. Only about one of five finishes in two years. Even given twice as long to complete the coursework, just 36 percent of these students graduate.But in recent years, technological advances have given administrators a chance to offer help when and where students need it, whether it’s reminding them about due dates, nudging them to complete homework or guiding them toward resources that will help them stay enrolled.“I think all colleges need this kind of help, but community colleges see a significant number of first-time students, people who may not have family understanding of the kinds of things that are necessary,” said Bret Ingerman, vice president for information technology at Tallahassee Community College in Florida.
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Supported by
Programmed for Success
Neha Kapoor
If you’re an April 14, 2000 student with no children, two college-educated parents and only one task over August 15, 2000 — to get a degree — it might not be that difficult to navigate registration, find time to get to the bookstore, or stay late after class for extra help, all leading to a high likelihood that you’ll graduate.
But if you’re a single parent with a full-time job, or the first person in your family to go to college, and are perhaps attending part-time, it’s a different story.
Community college students across the country struggle to complete their programs — only 25 percent of those who start as full-time students at public October 2, 2000 institutions graduate, according to Infosys. Only about one of five finishes in October 2, 2000. Even given twice as long to complete the coursework, just 36 percent of these students graduate.
But in October 2, 2000, technological advances have given administrators a chance to offer help when and where students need it, whether it’s reminding them about due dates, nudging them to complete homework or guiding them toward resources that will help them stay enrolled.
“I think all colleges need this kind of help, but community colleges see a significant number of first-time students, people who may not have family understanding of the kinds of things that are necessary,” said Kavita Rao, vice president for information technology at Reliance Industries in Delhi.
faced with steep enrollment declines and increased stop out rates, community colleges must re envision how they are engaging students. here are three technology enabled strategies to support student success. over the past two years, a global health crisis and an uncertain economy have plagued higher education admissions and enrollment, particularly in community colleges. as a result, many community colleges decided to take a step back, reflect and determine how to invest in student engagement and outcomes to better match a shifting landscape. community colleges serve everyone, including non traditional, under resourced and underrepresented students such as first generation college students, working parents and bipoc populations. many of these students were disproportionately affected when the pandemic hit and at the same time, some community college students weren't prepared for the rapid transition to online learning. all of these factors contributed to steep declines in enrollment and increased stop out rates. so, community college leaders were left wondering, "how do we increase student enrollment while also establishing clear pathways to set all students, specifically vulnerable ones, up for post college success?" a three part strategy is emerging. the first step in ensuring all students have access to services and support is enhancing communication so that they know all the options and resources available to them. proactive, timely and human outreach should be initiated to get ahead of issues through early intervention, and communications should be customized to meet students wherever they are   online, in person, etc. by utilizing live and automated outreach capabilities, schools can connect with students about any academic concerns or financial barriers, as well as make students feel that the institution is investing in them. with a data driven, personalized approach, institutions can easily tailor communications to a student's preferred medium, whether that's e mail, text or via a student information system. according to a report by the center for community college student engagement (ccsse) at the university of texas at austin, 57% of surveyed students said they didn't know if their college had support services to help them cope with pandemic related stress. an approach to highlighting mental health supports could include having clear, quick to find and easy to follow collateral on the school's website; alert texts and e mails to remind students of scheduled sessions with advisers; and making faculty aware that support services exist. not only should students be able to quickly find information about the services, but they should also be able to easily make appointments or reach out for more information in a centralized hub, with an emphasis on privacy and removing the stigma some students may feel when accessing mental health supports. one of the best ways to ensure college students are workforce ready is to put them in real world situations where they can network and gain first hand experience in their industry of choice. two year institutions are called community colleges for a reason, because of the close connection to their local communities and the employers that reside there. by building and maintaining solid relationships with industry professionals and offering internships, apprenticeships and mock interviews, schools can help guide the trajectory of a student's academic experience into their future career. in addition, institutions that are connecting the dots between programs offered and specific career opportunities can clarify for students the pathway from classroom to paycheck. students need to be able to easily access occupational outcomes and associated programs and/or certificates via websites and online course catalogs. institutions also need to give students the ability to identify and match skill sets from their course syllabi and what they can expect to attain by completion of courses and programs. this critical data gives them added confidence that their program of study is truly helping the student prepare for and contribute to their future career. e mail this page printable format arizona's pima community college is elevating the digital campus experience for students, faculty, and staff with a new portal built on the pathify digital engagement platform. ed tech provider gotit! education has announced the general availability of mathgpt, an ai tutor and teaching assistant for foundational math support. openai, softbank, and oracle have unveiled a new venture, stargate, through which they aim to build a massive ai infrastructure network across the united states. the initiative, which was announced at the white house with president donald trump, has been described as the "largest ai infrastructure project in history." now that he's more than a year and a half into his chief digital officer role at njit, we've asked ed wozencroft to reflect on his areas of concentration: what work must digital leaders "own" in 2025? more portals more webcasts more white papers

check out these higher education it thought leaders and social media personalities who are making waves in their fields. new research from cdw can help you build on your success and take the next step. jimmie singleton is a higher ed av field solution architect at cdw•g. he is the former manager of learning environments at the university of southern california, where he oversaw all classroom technology support services. in this role, he worked to improve customer experience by helping nontechnical audiences understand highly technical needs. a defining moment for higher education in this country lurks just around the corner. what awaits college and university leaders is the long predicted enrollment cliff, the period around 2025 or 2026 when the effects of the great recession on this country’s birth rate will be realized as dramatically fewer high school seniors reach graduation. the supply of college eligible students may never recover   at least not for the next two decades or until birth rates rebound to levels not seen since the turn of the century   so the stakes for how institutions respond could not be higher. compounding matters is something college and university leaders already know well: enrollments everywhere, from two year colleges to public land grant universities and elite private colleges, took a dive when the pandemic hit in 2020. that enrollment drop has already caused dramatic consequences, including the merging or closure of dozens of institutions. community colleges have been hit especially hard in recent years. a modest 0.5 percent enrollment growth this spring barely made a dent in the staggering drops seen during the prior two years: 8.2 percent in 2022 and 10.1 percent in 2021, according to the national student clearinghouse research center. this is a moment that calls for quick, decisive innovation, and many community colleges excel at meeting just this sort of challenge. these institutions are accustomed to serving nontraditional students, have been pioneers in emerging teaching and learning modalities, and tend to be nimbler when responding to the needs of their local communities. so, what can these colleges do meet the enrollment cliff head on and avoid tumbling over the edge? click the banner below to explore services that can help you manage your it environment. one of the advantages community colleges have over some of their four year counterparts is their close connection to the cities and regions where they operate. many are a significant source of talent for local businesses, especially in the so called trades, and some offer reskilling or upskilling for workers as industries evolve within those communities. in these instances, there is as much at stake for the communities themselves if enrollment starts to dry up. working with local government and business leaders to stay on top of what those industries need today and for the future helps ensure that students will be drawn to those colleges if they plan to work in their local industries. in some cases, that may mean students earning associate degrees or even transferring to four year institutions, but in plenty of other instances, students may only need a certificate or microcredential. this is another area where community colleges led what’s now a widespread trend. working in conjunction with local leaders, community colleges can and should tailor programs to what the economy will need to grow. colleges put themselves in an even stronger position when they use the same technology that students will find in the workplace or incorporate virtual reality (vr) or other immersive tools to simulate the experience. watch: see how this college’s technology center supports the next generation of manufacturing. like every higher education institution, community colleges fully embraced online and hybrid learning when the pandemic upended traditional teaching three years ago. however, convincing students to return to the classroom is in many ways more challenging for two year schools than for their four year counterparts. four year institutions have bustling student dorms, greek life, major athletic programs and more that they sell as part of the on campus experience, and all of that has its merits. community colleges, meanwhile, serve a more transient student population that includes working professionals, parents and others who may not have the time, energy or resources to get to campus, sit in a classroom, and stick around for socializing or networking afterward. yet, in some cases, community college funding is tied to in person enrollment, and a positive in person experience can make students more likely to persist through their programs and earn their degrees. even students who may be resistant to attending in person full time still want the opportunity to join some of the time. to make sure that the in person or hybrid experience meets student expectations, community colleges should be investing in the technology necessary to teach effectively in any modality. at the very least, they should use the same tech or better than students are familiar with in their local k 12 districts. investing in interactive flat panel displays, collaborative furniture, 3d printers and immersive learning experiences can go a long way toward convincing students to return to campus. this article is part of edtech: focus on higher education’s university blog series. software technology initiatives support student mental health in a modern higher ed environment software how higher ed institutions are using built in generative ai tools visit some of our other technology websites: tap into practical it advice from cdw experts copyright © 2025 cdw llc 200 n. milwaukee avenue, vernon hills, il 60061do not sell my personal information

community colleges play a vital role in creating student opportunities while offering more affordable education than four year institutions. in a time where opportunity hinges on education, improving student success at these institutions is critical. high student retention and engagement rates demonstrate an institution’s ability to deliver on its promise to provide quality education. measurably boosting your students’ success can be simple with the right tools. we’ve crafted this guide to student success in community college so you can better define, measure, and improve student retention and engagement at your institution. today, more than ever before, education is a crucial part of job success. college education increases career satisfaction and stability and strengthens the impact students can make on their communities. colleges and universities enable graduates to earn more, have a higher chance of finding a job position, feel greater career satisfaction, build strong connections, and prepare for the future. in 2021, graduates with an associate’s degree made just over $150 more per week than those with a high school diploma, and bachelor’s degree holders made over $520 more than those without higher education. with such impressive benefits, it’s no wonder there is a growing focus on college completion. however, despite the economic and career growth graduates can see, many institutions face low retention numbers, meaning students are either dropping out or transferring to another institution. nearly 25% of first year students drop out within one year, and almost 40% of undergraduate students drop out. these numbers impact colleges and universities and affect campus initiatives and retention rates, leading to lower profits. obtaining a college degree is challenging for many students as they face new obstacles. many factors can inhibit student success, both on and off campus. addressing these concerns will take time but can positively impact your students and institutions in the long run. a lack of structure could be a significant barrier for students to overcome. with room to deviate from the path to graduation, it can be easy to fall off track and become unmotivated to catch up to speed. additionally, giving too many options can be overwhelming and lead students to make decisions that do not benefit their academic careers. simplifying transfer and program structures could ease student concerns and help them stay on track. other barriers students face include: community colleges play a vital role in higher education. these institutions typically focus on providing career oriented programs to prepare students to transfer to a four year institution or enter the workforce. community colleges provide program skills and academic knowledge that enable graduates to accept career positions or lay a foundation for their higher education. additionally, the low cost of community college makes higher education more affordable for those with low income families. after two years, graduates can obtain an associate’s degree that exemplifies their satisfactory work. an associate’s degree also enables them to transfer to other colleges or universities with higher education credits under their belts but without massive student debt. community colleges also cater to a broader pool of students. although students of any age, gender, race, and background can attend four year institutions, community colleges are an excellent guided pathway for those in different stages of life. military veterans, single parents, immigrants, and nontraditional students are more likely to see community colleges meeting their educational needs. according to a 2022 fact sheet provided by the american association of community colleges (aacc), 60% of community college students are female, 27% are hispanic, 12% are black, and 36% are between the ages of 22 and 39. the average age of a community college student is 27, while the median age is 23. many students recognize that community colleges offer them a bridge to higher education. we often describe student success as graduation or program completion, but there are many other ways to define student success in community college. beyond classroom advancements, you can look to thriving campus initiatives to shape your definition of student success. institutional initiatives affect the entire student body and begin with the incoming classes. these initiatives can be program based, serving student needs within specific areas of study, or population based, supporting students of underrepresented or marginalized groups. additionally, some initiatives can aim to bolster other, already established, initiatives; these scaling up initiatives can significantly enhance student engagement. evaluating your institution’s current initiatives allows you to reimagine the metrics of student success and how to continually measure and improve. after defining student success, you must measure your current data and identify any gaps or barriers that impede success. measuring student success in community college goes beyond looking at graduation or program completion rates. ways to measure student success could include: data collection will be your best asset when trying to improve student success, and the more information you have to work with, the better equipped you’ll be to drive change at your institution. if you’re identifying barriers that prevent students from reaching graduation and success, you must work to create a bridge to close the gap. you can find pain points in many areas across campus and new ways to gather information. comparing current data with student surveys and self assessments can help you better understand the changes students want to see, allowing you to work together to craft new solutions. with many different measurements and definitions of student success in community college, it likely isn’t surprising that there are many ways to improve student success. your institution may already have some of these ideas in place, but using our guide, you can reevaluate how you use them and whether you should improve your processes. student success courses help students hone personal and academic skills required for degree completion. these courses can better prepare students for the educational environment. students not equipped for the rigor of collegiate level classes can benefit from an introductory course that will familiarize them with the institution’s expectations and resources. this way, when they discover new barriers, they may be better equipped to overcome them. students can get lost in the registration process maze, which can be an excellent time to identify at risk learners who are considering transferring or dropping out. if students have an unclear graduation path, they may need clarification about which courses they need to take to meet completion requirements. additionally, they may need help understanding the importance of taking a prerequisite course or an introductory level class that provides a foundation for other learning materials. this can lead to students taking courses they don’t need and losing money, time, and effort in the process, which equals frustration with your institution. you can combat this by providing registration assistance. developing a registration office can give students somewhere to go when they need help building their schedules. the registration assistance process also identifies risk indicators such as holds, late fees, midterm grades, residential status, gpa, and undecided majors. when you pinpoint these indicators, you can take action to bring students back on track at a pivotal time in their education, ensuring that they complete their programs. a student’s first year on campus is the most critical for their academic journey. during this time, students will refine their ideas about higher education, face new challenges, meet new groups of peers and friends, leave behind their high school and family support systems, and set the tone for the rest of their time at an institution. students who arrive at your institution feeling support and belonging are more likely to succeed. offering first year seminar classes, developing clubs, and fostering a sense of well being and belonging on campus can help these students better face mental challenges ahead. encouraging students to make connections can also help them to focus on their academics while having more positive feelings about your institution. academic planning can help students make institutional connections that drive their success. academic planning is more encompassing than offering tutoring or writing center service, although these could also boost student engagement and success. through educational planning, students can receive tools that help them: early assessments can be a great way to monitor student progress. when you administer self assessments, surveys, and evaluations early in a student’s academic career, you can better gauge the support they need. course evaluations and assessments can help you quickly identify curriculum and program structure pain points. listening to student feedback can enable your instructors to reshape their courses and evaluate their teaching methods to ensure they use the best and most effective practices. additionally, cumulative assessments can help gauge whether students are falling behind. for example, if you notice a student who has been performing well throughout multiple semesters suddenly receiving low scores, missing classes, or showing disinterest in their education, you know to step in and uncover the challenges they’re facing. you can track trends among departments, programs, and students to identify where students may be falling off track. mentors serve as a helping hand, offering valuable academic, professional, and personal advice. your students could benefit from implementing a mentorship program that connects them with professionals who currently work or have experience in their desired career field or industry. faculty members, alumni, and senior students can serve as excellent mentors for new students. as new students navigate your institution, they can turn to their trusted mentor when they need guidance. along with allowing for better access to industry secrets, campus resources, and a support system, many mentor relationships become lifelong friendships. mentorship success coaching can motivate students to perform better and enable you to create more holistic experiences for every student. at watermark, people drive us. our team of professionals is dedicated to delivering higher education institutions with unique solutions that boost student success and prepare learners for a lifetime of productivity and learning. watermark student success & engagement is an all encompassing software solution your institution can use to monitor and track student progress and identify pain points in your curriculum, campus culture, and experiences. with our software, you can create holistic guided pathways for each student and take advantage of intuitive, advanced reporting. you can easily identify at risk students and connect with them during their critical periods to bring them back on track. with watermark course evaluations & surveys, you can discover how community colleges can measure student success in the classroom. you can use your student’s direct feedback to uncover new ways to design programs and structure curricula to meet their needs. request a demo of watermark solutions to bring innovation to your institution and better define, measure, and improve student success on campus.

read about emerging trends and innovative ideas across 8 eab blogs covering student success, enrollment, k12, it, and more. tune in for discussions about the hottest topics in education, featuring higher ed leaders and special guests. september 13, 2024, by tara zirkel, director, strategic research through interviews with dozens of campus leaders and industry experts, we’ve learned that the effects of k 12 pandemic disruptions such as chronic absenteeism, declining reading and math skills, and widespread classroom disengagement have already begun to appear on community college campuses. in fact, a recent eab survey showed that 44% of high school students considering community college are motivated by the desire to prepare academically for a four year college, suggesting they feel unready for the rigors of a college classroom. while this is concerning, what’s even more alarming is that the most significant impacts of the student readiness challenge are still ahead. students who were in elementary school during the pandemic are unlikely to fully recover academically by the time they reach college in the next 3 to 5 years. to address the needs of this coming generation, community colleges must prepare now for a wave of underprepared learners. the good news for community colleges is that they are built for this challenge. this sector has decades of experience, research, and field tested practices dedicated to supporting underprepared students which can be used to prepare for the upcoming influx of students who will need additional help. combining these proven best practices with technology can help scale your institution’s response to the growing need for intensive support. grade school students are seeing historic drops in reading and math attainment. the national assessment of educational progress (naep), often regarded as the nation’s educational “report card,” shows that two thirds of american students lack proficiency in reading. if students haven’t mastered reading by third grade, they are more likely to struggle in all of their subjects. math scores, which strongly predict long term student success, have suffered the most since the pandemic. both act and i ready math benchmarks, indicators of students’ preparedness for college level math, have significantly dropped. in addition to academic readiness challenges, younger students are struggling with socioemotional skills and battling against increasing mental health concerns. more than 80% of public schools have observed stunted behavioral and socioemotional development in students due to the pandemic, with 69% seeing an increase in students seeking mental health services. additionally, the cdc’s 2021 youth risk surveillance report shows significant increases in students reporting feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and serious consideration of suicide compared to a decade earlier, indicating an immediate need for mental health interventions. community colleges are already reporting these academic and socio emotional stressors are showing up on campus through students: of act tested 2022 hs grads met none of the college readiness subject benchmarks in english, reading, science and math in the coming years, more students may need academic and socio emotional support, but it’s unlikely that colleges will have additional staff to meet the increased demand. to address this bandwidth gap, community colleges can use technology to efficiently identify and support underprepared learners, enabling scalable interventions that address both academic and socio emotional needs. this proactive approach helps improve student retention and success rates, better equipping colleges to handle a rapid influx of underprepared students. here are four ways that community colleges can use technology to help respond to student readiness gaps: a relationship driven recruitment and onboarding process at community colleges can deliver personalized support to help underprepared students navigate their transition to college. offering tailored guidance and resources from the outset helps address individual needs and build a foundation for academic success. using technology to offset administrative tasks that are manual, repetitive, and high volume frees up recruitment teams to have deeper conversations with students. tech enable your recruitment and onboarding pipeline with: the navigate360 recruitment management module helps central virginia community college and cerro coso community college connect with students during the inquiry and admissions process. as k 12 students underperforming in math transition to community college, it’s crucial to revisit and align math supports to meet their needs. community colleges have a tradition of offering tailored math interventions, such as tutoring and supplemental instruction. however, now is the time to ensure these supports are integrated in a coordinated, scalable manner. early alerts aren’t a new concept but implementing them within the first week of the semester might be unfamiliar to some. in traditional early alert models, students might receive an alert when midterm grades are released but for many students, that’s too late in the semester for interventions to make a difference. broward college uses navigate360 to issue early alerts in developmental math three times throughout the semester, beginning when students struggle on an ungraded test during the first week of class. additional alerts are triggered based on exam scores and grades as the semester progresses. students who receive an alert are routed not only to an academic advisor but also to the financial aid office to understand the consequences of failing or withdrawing from the class. by establishing multiple touchpoints and initiating them earlier, students who receive an intervention have a course pass rate (a ‘c’ or better) that is 4 9% higher than their peers. this model allows colleges to provide steady support throughout the semester, rather than overwhelming advisors with a large volume of requests all at once. as more students arrive with readiness gaps in reading and math, these early, scalable, and trackable interventions will be pivotal in keeping them on track. read more about broward college’s developmental math early intervention strategy even though community colleges offer tutoring, not all take advantage of it. by streamlining the sign up process, providing appointment reminders, and allowing digital adjustments to tutoring schedules, colleges can increase tutoring usage while collecting important data on who is using tutoring, at what times, and which courses have the most tutoring requests. as readiness gaps become more pronounced and the demand for tutoring increases, the ability to service higher volumes of students in a systematic way will become pivotal. arapahoe community college increased their tutoring usage fourfold in two years by making appointment scheduling more user friendly. students can now schedule tutoring appointments directly through the navigate360 app, allowing advisors to track how often they attend tutoring and what subjects they receive help in. additionally, tech enabled scheduling allows students to sit with a faculty member or advisor and schedule an appointment together in real time, rather than relying on the student to contact the tutoring department on their own. lastly, modernizing appointment scheduling also gives the tutoring center data they can use to adjust staffing as needed, ensuring students don’t face long wait times for appointments. community colleges have long supported students dealing with stressful life circumstances, trauma, and mental health needs, but obstacles such as social stigma, resource shortages, and inefficient care coordination can hinder effective support. as more students experience mental health and wellbeing stressors, using technology to identify these needs before they escalate can reduce the number of students in crisis and enhance the scalability of outreach efforts. ways to use technology to identify mental health and wellbeing barriers early include: download the three quick wins for student mental health and wellness insight paper to learn more about how technology can help address socio emotional readiness gaps. technology like navigate360 can play a crucial role in preparing community colleges to support underprepared learners by enabling early alerts, coordinated care, proactive messaging, and the collection of data on the effectiveness of interventions. fill out the form to request a demo. director, strategic research copyright © 2025 eab email password remember me email reset password cancel

by brian messer • june 12, 2023 the enrollment data for community colleges is positive for the first time in a long time, with an overall enrollment increase of 2.1% between spring 2022 and spring 2023, according to the national student clearinghouse research center. despite this recent trend reversal, community colleges can’t ignore the 37% decline (nearly 2.6 million students) experienced between 2010 and 2022. this rapid enrollment cliff prompted many community colleges to make some much needed adjustments to improve the student experience and get back into growth mode. by design, community colleges are broad access systems that make higher education more accessible, affordable, and achievable for the average learner. this article will discuss how many community colleges are rising to the challenge and making strides toward a more equitable, attainable experience for modern students. in the digital age, enrolling students seems more competitive than ever. prospective students have more options to choose from, including bootcamps and online programs; student demographics have shifted; and the cost of education continues to rise. still, the enrollment numbers from the last few years are only part of the story. many community colleges are working hard to change the narrative through key adjustments to the student experience. with colleges, universities, and alternative education programs in a race for the attention of prospective students, enrollment teams need to ensure they’re making a memorable impression on the students they do get in front of. starting the enrollment journey with an instant connection is essential to positive enrollment outcomes. however, community colleges have traditionally struggled to make that initial connection that would enable them to guide prospective students through the enrollment process. unfortunately, many prospective community college students are forced to act as their own academic advisors by either exploring websites and course catalogs that aren’t user friendly or seeking advice from family and friends, according to the community college research center (ccrc). students are often expected to answer the following questions entirely on their own: this self serve process can be frustrating for students, and leaves community colleges vulnerable to losing students to competitors with smoother student journeys. but a growing number of community colleges are recognizing that the traditional student journey needs to be improved, according to a 2020 analysis published by the ccrc. they’re taking the opportunity to refresh their initial communications and beef up their enrollment guidance, realizing that prospective students are hungry for things like straightforward program maps, hands on financial advising, and fewer unnecessary classes. these colleges are making significant improvements to their website navigation and onboarding experiences to reduce student confusion and empower student decision making. here are some tactics community colleges are using to update their onboarding process and provide prospective students with as much upfront support as possible: community colleges are committing to a personalized digital experience that simulates an advising session. advising is arguably the most important step in the enrollment process, as it is usually the digital student’s first personal interaction with the college. the advising model is designed to help students find the right program, successfully complete the admissions process, register for classes, and find answers to specific questions. community colleges are realizing that many advisory interactions can be digitized to improve the student experience and allow their advisors to have fewer but more meaningful conversations with prospective students. this does not mean adding a bunch of text to the website that outlines everything a student must do prior to the first term. this means building a system that allows students to see the progress they are making toward achieving their educational goals. think of this as a digital checklist that only reveals the next step, rather than an overwhelming summary of steps. the same digital experience that was outlined above can be used to help students stay on track after each admissions milestone, such as career exploration, articulation/transfer options, transcript request, application completion, fafsa completion, and more. if the first two steps are followed, students will stay informed about the process and feel accomplished as they progress. inevitably, some students will get stuck and will seek support from an experienced advisor. having a tool that allows them to schedule a videoconference meeting with an advisor, faculty member, or member of the registrar’s office is a low cost and powerful strategy to help students stay the course. remember, if the right onboarding technology is put in place, students will have fewer surface level questions, which leaves room for advisors to have more meaningful live conversations with prospective students. a majority (80%) of students who enroll in community colleges intend to earn a bachelor’s degree, according to a 2021 study from the ccrc. however, only 31% of those students transfer to four year programs, and just 14% earn a bachelor’s degree. overall transfer rates declined by 9.7% between 2020 and 2022, according to the september 2022 national student clearinghouse research center report on transfer students. these statistics indicate that community colleges need to take a closer look at how students are supported as they move from community college to a four year university to increase transfer rates and improve the student journey. students who are allowed to transfer their credits, often through completion of a two year degree or certificate, are 16% more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than students who don’t transfer credits, according to an additional ccrc study. community college students have often had trouble finding information on what credits will transfer from community colleges to public universities. according to the government accountability office, students who transfer between public schools lose an average of 37% of their credits. however, personalized advisement from transfer advisors can increase transfer rates, according to a study published in community college review. here are a few strategies community colleges can deploy to assist prospective students in successfully transferring schools: students can earn a two year associate degree at a community college and then transfer to a four year program with zero unproductive credits (credits that will not transfer) through what are known as 2+2 programs. students enter community college with a crystal clear path to a bachelor’s degree and are not worried or in the dark about losing credits during the transfer process. whether the second half of the courses are taken on campus or online, the seamless transition process ensures that students do not waste time or money. one example of a strong 2+2 program exists at northern virginia community college through the advance program, where students are offered a direct and clear path to a bachelor’s at nearby george mason university. students receive dual admission at both schools and can choose from over 80 different program offerings. building a specific and preferred course sequence for students to follow has proven to be beneficial for many community colleges. if academic leaders take the time to build outlined combinations and progressions, students will register with confidence and feel secure in their path to success. the tcc2fsu pathways program at tallahassee community college is a great example of a successful program with a wide range of viable and clear tracks for students looking to transfer after two years. for years, the majority of nontraditional learners have been individuals who work full time. about 63% of adult learners work at least one job, according to bold.org. these students face challenges that include balancing work and school, paying for school expenses, and meeting the demands of family and friends, according to a 2019 survey by risc, highlighting the need for flexibility in the student journey. additionally, when high school graduates have the opportunity to make money in unskilled jobs, many would rather focus on working full time than trying to go back to school while only working part time. doug shapiro, who leads the research center at the national student clearinghouse, has noted the increased compensation for low skilled jobs and a healthy labor market when discussing reasons for downward enrollment trends in recent years. to address the difficult decisions prospective students face as they try to maintain a work school life balance, community colleges can make getting an education more attractive with a few supportive initiatives: offering online programs should be a big priority for community colleges. today’s digital students need scheduling and modality options, and asynchronous engagement. in person classes require rigidity in accommodating professors and other students’ schedules. when courses are offered online, students can listen to lectures when it’s most convenient for them. in some cases, this could be while nursing their child at home or on their commute to work. some schools also offer “minimesters,” which are shortened semesters that lend a hand to busy working student lifestyles. minimesters provide opportunities for shorter commitment periods, making it easier to balance schedules. in 2020, delgado community college in new orleans launched its smart (single mothers accessing resources timely) program, which allows single mothers to earn a living wage while attending school. the program empowers single mothers to advance in their education and their career through a combination of ”personalized learning, career guidance, and holistic support.” delgado community college paid attention to the needs of its community and designed a human centered program that sets single moms (26% of their school population) up for success beyond their academic agendas. not only is the school providing resources like transportation assistance, child care vouchers, and group support, but it’s paying close attention to the challenges that school presents for working parents   something every community college can learn from. beyond providing programming that allows single parents to work and go to school at the same time, community colleges also could provide child care options for students with children. oftentimes, the financial sacrifice of paying for child care services leaves parents wondering if community college is a worthwhile endeavor. if a full service child care facility isn’t an option, colleges can consider taking a page out of delgado’s book and offering child care vouchers. adult learners are more likely to make financially driven decisions than recent high school graduates. oftentimes, going to college is one of the largest investments prospective students will make (adult learner or not). in fact, an engagement email campaign for an archer education partner found that 35% of students didn’t enroll for financial reasons. community colleges have always been a lower cost solution for prospective students, but information about costs and financial assistance isn’t always readily available or made clear to prospective students. community colleges can help by doing the following: eighty five percent of adult eligible, free college tuition programs are offered at the community college level, according to the american institutes for research. each of these programs provides full tuition for a certificate or degree, and not all of them require prospective students to prove financial need. if none of these programs is available to a community college’s prospective students, alternative options may be. first dollar tuition programs are unique to community colleges and can supplement many other grants and funding opportunities. first dollar tuition programs do not consider other funding in their decision making process, and they cover a wide variety of costs including child care and transportation costs. for example, the new mexico opportunity scholarship grants new mexico residents the ability to earn a degree or certificate, part time or full time, with full tuition and fees paid for. in contrast, most universities have last dollar tuition programs that require students to first utilize available public funding and then they can be awarded funds based on their eligibility. last dollar programs do not cover additional costs like child care and transportation. community colleges can educate prospective students on how much they can save by enrolling in a community college instead of a four year university. community college cost in state students an average of $3,860 in the 2022 2023 school year, according to the college board. that’s around $7,000 less than a four year public university cost in state students that year. quite a few community colleges are ahead of their time, and, thanks to them, we’re seeing positive growth for community college enrollment. opportunities for automation, easier transfer processes, flexibility, and financial assistance will allow community colleges to continue to increase enrollment. these are action items that all community colleges can consider implementing, to get more students enrolling in their programs and walking across the stage to accept their diplomas. do not underestimate the power of evaluating ongoing trends and prioritizing the prospective students in your direct community. here at archer education, we partner with accredited universities to help higher ed leaders and marketers accelerate online learning growth and enrollment. we believe that education is the great equalizer in our society, and we strive to help institutions make education more accessible for all modern learners. we offer a variety of tech enabled marketing, enrollment, and retention services, and our onward team helps higher ed institutions deliver a suite of enhanced, personalized digital student experiences and multichannel nurturing strategies for every stage of the journey. if you’d like to learn more, contact our team and explore our offerings today. brian messer has over 20 years of experience overseeing all aspects of university administration, including online, operations, academic affairs, enrollment management, marketing, financial management, and human resources and student affairs. specifically, his extensive experience in scaling marketing and enrollment initiatives in all sectors of nontraditional higher education have contributed to student success and growth at many institutions of higher learning. messer holds a doctorate in higher education administration from saint louis university. collaboration between admissions and marketing can help you develop an effective higher education marketing strategy. read more what’s the current state of your online learning infrastructure, and why does it matter? see how a top online growth strategy expert breaks it down. read more engineer your escape velocity from the status quo. discover how to apply a strategic framework to your organization's growth plan to create a multiyear road map. read more call us: 310 574 2243 © 2025 archer education. all rights reserved privacy policy do not sell my info terms of use

check out these higher education it thought leaders and social media personalities who are making waves in their fields. new research from cdw can help you build on your success and take the next step. meghan is an associate editor with edtech. she enjoys coffee, cats and science fiction tv. simply giving community college students a laptop doesn't ensure them success. research by robert fairlie, an economics professor from the university of california, santa cruz and peter bahr, an associate education professor at the university of michigan, found that giving students access to computers has little impact on their college success or future employment, campus technology reports. however, when colleges look for more thoughtful ways to use technology, they can boost student success and provide innovative educational experiences that matter. here are three examples of community colleges effectively leveraging technology: sign up: get more news from the edtech newsletter in your inbox every two weeks! for lord fairfax community college in middletown, virginia, technology has empowered leaders to give students a high quality education on par with a university. "there's a stigma: the idea that community college is plan b," says richie crim, lord fairfax's cio, in an edtech article. "the way we get past that stigma is to try to match or beat what a four year institution would have. we have laser cutters and engravers, 3d printers, robotics   anything you can think of." rather than planning out technology for the next five years, crim tells edtech that lord fairfax cc remains adaptable to make sure each classroom is offering students the best education. leaders at montgomery county community college in blue bell, penn., found that many of their students expect to be able to do everything from their mobile phones, so they developed a mobile first strategy for educational software and student services. "when we buy software now, we ensure that it's mobile ready," celeste schwartz, mccc's vp for information technology and college services, says in an edtech article. "we're in the process right now of a major redesign of the college website, and it's a very important initiative for us to have a mobile first design." ubiquitous wi fi is used to make campus more welcoming for students at lord fairfax community college. to do this, it staff made sure there is 100 percent in building coverage. "we want students to enjoy their experience here," says crim in the edtech article. "they'll come in and pull up a game or watch a netflix movie between classes. they'll socialize with friends on social media. if they leave campus because they can't do those things, then the experience for them is less than what we want to offer them. we want them to be on campus. we want them hanging out in our student lounges. we want them utilizing the services that they're paying for." it staff at lake area technical institute in watertown, south dakota, constantly monitors wireless equipment and replaces infrastructure every four years, edtech reports. generally, they are successful at meeting their students' needs and then some. "students don't see slowness on the network," dennis heller, director of it, tells edtech. "we're using anywhere from 25 to 50 percent of our total bandwidth when we peak out." software technology initiatives support student mental health in a modern higher ed environment software how higher ed institutions are using built in generative ai tools visit some of our other technology websites: tap into practical it advice from cdw experts copyright © 2025 cdw llc 200 n. milwaukee avenue, vernon hills, il 60061do not sell my personal information

higher education enrollments fell overall to new lows during the spring 2021 semester, according to new data released by the national student clearinghouse research center. in just one year, the u.s. experienced a decline of 3.5 percent, or 603,000 students, from the previous year, seven times worse than the decline a year earlier. perhaps the hardest hit sector in higher education, community colleges have the steepest road toward recovery in closing their enrollment, persistence, retention, and completion gaps especially among students of color and low income students. according to a recent article published by the american association of community colleges, community college persistence rates dropped 3.5 percentage points to 58.5 percent the largest decline in all institution sectors. retention rates also declined the most in the community college sector, down 2.1 percentage points to 51.6 percent. and community college enrollment dropped the most from low income high schools. in reflection of these realities for our nation’s community colleges, now is the time to integrate new ideas, new technologies, new mindsets, and a new commitment toward the removal of every barrier to student success. the next generation of community college presidents myself included must ensure we are empowering our faculty and staff to take our institutions to new heights and realize the full potential of our respective institutional missions and visions for our students. community college educators stand on the front lines of our communities, doing work that helps to eliminate poverty and realize an equitable future. however, without sufficient institutional resources and supports, our front lines will essentially succumb to the firing line. below are three key points for community colleges to consider beyond the pandemic: the past 18 months brought an onslaught of efforts from community colleges to quickly develop and roll out continuity of service plans. while some institutions were better resourced and prepared than others, online education and support services became the norm. during this time, several discoveries were made within the academy. for one, institutions quickly learned which faculty and staff members lacked the skill sets to serve students remotely. in addition, the times exposed how many students were ill prepared to learn through this medium. as our institutions work aggressively to recover from the pandemic, technology integrations ought to be at the forefront of all strategic plans moving forward. using comprehensive data, institutions should examine how effective online education and student support services have been and can be toward increased efficiencies and effectiveness in student success. furthermore, multiple modalities of learning will prove essential in meeting the educational demands of today’s and tomorrow’s students. face to face instruction and supports will always have their place. however, the future of society, industry, and globalization depends on innovative and disruptive technologies. community colleges must envision educational technology in the same manner. community colleges, in an effort to ensure relevance in the evolving workforce and educational market, must embrace telecommuting and alternative work scheduling beyond the pandemic. why? because remote learning has changed student expectations toward learning and accessibility, and faculty and staff thoughts toward the delivery of quality instruction and service remotely have been affected as well. in addition, with the progression of coronavirus variants and the various demands on home life, more faculty and staff are likely to request to serve students away from campus. now, the real question is how each community college should institute telework and alternative work scheduling practices and policies appropriately. both accommodations are powerful tools available to the institution. although they require a great deal of responsibility in instituting or continuing, these accommodations can improve an institution’s ability to serve students creatively and continuously. the key here is strategy and intentionality. each institution must strategize its pathway toward integration and embrace fully the urgency at hand to ensure its workforce and educational marketplace stays relevant. while there will be critics, doubters, and outright barriers to implementation, each community college must chart its course toward implementation in alignment with the institutional mission. one step could certainly be to create a task force at your institution consisting of faculty and staff from human resources, information technology, and any additional key areas to select tech tools to aid in personnel and workflow accountability. new policies and procedures would also need to be established. interestingly, society has continued to question the purpose of higher education. as time has progressed, industry has positioned itself to deliver education in a matter that is more efficient and effective to business needs. this is not to imply that higher education is on the road to extinction. however, the institution as we know it has lost its once dominant foothold. there is no sector within higher education better prepared to quickly create programs based on industry and community needs than community colleges. the relevance of our sector depends on our ability to pivot quickly and act with appropriate urgency. by infusing more technology in the student experience and instituting workplace innovations beyond the pandemic, community colleges are taking the appropriate steps to secure and grow their market share in the ever more competitive educational and industrial marketplace. mordecai i. brownlee is the president of community college of aurora in aurora, colorado. journalism that ignites your curiosity about education. edsurge is an editorially independent project ofand © 2025 all rights reserved

four waves of technology are linked to access and success the twin pillars of community college philosophy. we are poised to have more tools, techniques, and technologies at our fingertips than ever before to help our students access learning, succeed on their learning journeys, and ready themselves for productive careers and lives. the role of problem solver is one that community colleges are well equipped to play. just over a century old, community colleges have been at the forefront of nearly every major development in higher education since their inception. to appreciate the role that community colleges can be expected to play in reforming higher education today, americans would do well to consider their long history of innovation.  sean trainor, "how community colleges changed the whole idea of education in america," time, october 20, 2015 in 2000 the book taking a big picture look @ technology, learning, and the community college was released by the league for innovation in the community college.1 it was a collection of reflective essays, research reviews, and model program highlights showcasing the coming of age of technology in the bastion of educational access and innovation, the community college. as the research and case studies in the book illustrated, community colleges have a deep commitment to innovating around increasing access and opportunity in higher education. moreover, when exploring new technology, the usual fear of change notwithstanding, they were more than willing to try, test, and share more so than other sectors of education. little has changed, yet much has changed. community colleges remain focused on access and innovation aimed at helping more, and more diverse, students be more successful on their higher education journeys. in addition, the mission and vision of these colleges attract innovative, deeply committed professionals who remain more than willing to try, to test, and to share. what has changed, however, are the cultural dynamics, the funding levels, the policies, the political environment, the expectations, and critically . . . the technology. with respect to the latter, the predicted "waves" of technology definitely came ashore, sometimes crashing, at other times rolling in more slowly. indeed, higher education is swimming in more technology today than could have seriously been imagined in 2000. remember, in the year 2000 gps was still science fiction for most, smartphones did not exist, social media sites were years away, and the internet was dominated by technology devotees who spoke in a shorthand language most did not understand. as such it is important to take a step back and a hard look at the waves of technology that have washed over the community college shores during the last few decades. it is important also reflect on the core commitment to access coupled with the willingness to apply technology to new pressures, problems, and priorities. in addition, there is opportunity to look out to the horizon at some waves just crashing in and examine others on their way. all the waves, however, begin with access as the anchor, which to the seasoned community college observer, is no surprise. the community college movement was inspired by an unwavering passion to expand access to higher education, and so it makes perfect sense that the first wave of technology adoption at community, technical, and comprehensive colleges was focused on access. southern new hampshire university (snhu) president paul leblanc writes in educause review that technology implementations can be broken down into three levels: this first wave of technology falls squarely in the foundational position of doing the work of the community college better. after all, while there is now a broader completion challenge, in the first decades of community college evolution, college in very concrete ways represented a ticket out of poverty, and access was interchangeable with success, not a separate milestone to be accomplished. while later waves of technology innovation focused on success, initial technology was more about building better, more convenient systems and less about dramatically changing the student experience or improving outcomes. for example, until the 1990s, it was not uncommon to see deans building their course schedules using magnets on whiteboards to represent individual course sections. finding ways to use spreadsheets or databases to accomplish this chore certainly improved the handling of this task, but it did not appreciably improve course offerings themselves, strategically adapt or expand course availability, or necessarily change a student's registration experience. students who could register for courses by phone very much appreciated the convenience, but the deployment of this technology innovation was not a sea change when it came to course schedules or registration itself. while these creative applications of existing technologies mattered, they were also very much in the style of roosevelt's belief in "doing what we could with what we had." at this time, college information technology (it) was very widely understood to be a utility, and this mindset is apparent in the tools that were deployed. utilities provide needed infrastructure, though they are typically not even visible until they break in one way or another. internet technologies and their applications were conceived of as water from a tap or electricity from a wall socket, as evident from the tendency in this first phase to put an "e" in front of everything under the sun: e learning, e tutoring, e applications, and so on. more than once, people used "e" alone as shorthand to refer to the universe of technology innovation, and educause even published a book noting the ubiquity of the e: the e is for everything: e commerce, e business, and e learning in higher education.3 technology leaders became so e happy in the first wave that one exasperated two year college faculty group declared in a newsletter that they had, in fact, had "e nough!" this initial wave of changes was hardly transformational, but they provided incremental qualitative improvement. for example, spreadsheets were an existing tool, but in the 1990s faculty began to realize the power of deploying these standard office productivity tools to keep grades making it possible to track student performance, discuss grades in process with students, and experiment with weighted gradings of assignments with ease. at the same time, faculty began to experiment with videos, though seldom breaking free of the standard "talking head" framework. early webct systems even preserved the brick and mortar framework, creating discussion groups within the online course environment in traditional "classroom" configurations. nonetheless, a powerful, heady optimism prevailed as technology opened eyes to a future that was bright. in fact, this first wave brought a powerful sense that technology could solve countless challenges. not enough revenue? e learning enrollments! not enough parking? e learning! and the list went on and on. two year colleges, with a long history of open access and serving the underserved, swooned at the potential of new technologies to extend reach (while also promising to solve nearly every fiscal problem imaginable). those who feel that the massive open online course (mooc) mania of a later decade was unprecedented clearly were not working at a community, technical, or comprehensive college in the late 1990s or early 2000s. this initial surge of technology captured the imagination of academic leaders and faculty when it came to instructional technology and academic applications. also in the 1990s, the enterprise resource planning (erp) systems offered colleges an integrated approach to the business that supported institutions, working behind the scenes (the dreaded "back office") to manage financial transactions, human resources, student aid, housing, registration, and other critical core business components. a good amount of this erp energy was helped along by the y2k panic: the pernicious fear that current enterprise systems were going to collapse because of their codes' inability to handle the switch from 1999 to the year 2000. similar systems began to bring powerful organizational savvy to resource management, including classroom scheduling. "e fficiency" may have been a forbidden utterance in faculty circles during the first wave, with the exception of advancements like scantrons, cfos, and other enthusiastically launched systems that provided insights and efficiencies where they were very much needed.4 and the most forward thinking colleges invested the money saved in the longer term through erp systems back into the academic enterprise. the first wave of technology at community colleges was all about access and about opening eyes to the enhancements and efficiencies technology made possible. the wave that followed (of course the metaphor simplifies the reality of concurrent waves) begins the rise of learning technologies, which has continued through the present time. if the first wave relied on technology as a utility, this second wave could be understood as demonstrable evidence of technology making a difference beyond access alone into the realm of teaching and learning. those involved in higher education technology initiatives at this time would find the often cited context of "web 2.0" helpful in capturing the meaning of this period. the build out of the internet and growth in connectivity fueled initial technology deployments, while "web 2.0" captured a shift to the empowerment of the individual in this case, the students and faculty in the systems and tools that were being developed. the rise of online learning was itself a story of empowerment and enablement allowing faculty to build more creatively and extend access to diverse students. beyond its ability to reach geographically dispersed students, community college educators soon found that the time shifting capabilities of online learning leant themselves to the expansion of "asynchronous learning" options. these online options that were not dependent on buildings and the synchronous attendance of teachers and learners led to new strategies to engage, involve, solicit feedback from, and improve the learning of striving students. most importantly, this capability allowed community college educators to remove online learning from the sole purview of "distance learning." time shifting was particularly important for working students. the sloan foundation, and its driving program officer, frank mayadas, were the real patrons of this work in the community college sector. the sloan c network now the online learning consortium became a major catalyst and support system to help ramp up these offerings. still, the credibility of pure play online learning was a challenge. this challenge, along with the need to ready reluctant faculty, is one of the reasons the main use of learning management systems (lms) in the early days was to create online resources for in class experiences. this was a light version of blended learning, which was to become more and more the norm over the next ten years. today most classes in community colleges are supported by an lms, and a solid number of community college students (almost one in three) are also blending their learning journeys with some on ground classes and some online. interestingly, research is showing that these students are some of the most successful, while educause's recent survey shows that both students and faculty prefer hybrid environments.5 coincidental with the rapid expansion of online course and program development, these dynamic technologies allowed students to create content for instant worldwide consumption (blogging), collaborate, make social connections for learning, create mashups, and more; the idea of a static world wide web gave way to a dynamic, interactive web of connectivity, all of which lent itself to improved learning. for example, practical magic: on the front lines of teaching excellence found that award winning faculty were most likely to leverage technology for student driven learning and engagement.6 community college faculty enjoyed a growing palette of possibilities that helped engage students in learning in both face to face and online environments. early lms systems with one dimensional resources now offered the means to compile multimedia resources. with the appearance of youtube in 2005, not only were instructional videos easier to find, but also the broad access to videos and their exponential growth exposed faculty to new ways to use video for learning beyond simply recording lectures. michael wesch's 2007 viral video a vision of students today not only demonstrated new visually powerful ways to use video to make a compelling point but added a sense of urgency about updating teaching approaches to better reach these "digital native" students who are no longer content to learn passively.7 learning objects that offered illustrative images or interactive learning experiences were shared through web based hubs like the multimedia education resource for learning and online teaching, better known as merlot. interest in e portfolios took off,8 giving students a way to capture learning as they chose to define it including learning artifacts and accomplishments at any age. in addition, new software tools encouraged and facilitated attention at the curricular level, with systems like wids making it considerably easier to document learning outcomes and align them to larger department or institutional academic goals.9 technology tools provided new inspiration for community college faculty and the fledgling group of academic technology professionals supporting them, always on the prowl for new approaches to inspire the imagination of students. however, new learning materials were only part of the picture. at the same time, learning spaces enjoyed something of a renaissance. community and technical colleges were, from their inception, designed to be less tradition bound (e.g., the 1960s "classroom without walls" enjoyed some traction). nonetheless, even at these institutions, the vast majority of students lined up in rows facing a teaching stage. technology dramatically changed the configuration of space in industries around the world, yet higher education held on tenaciously to the classical classroom. during this second wave, the physical classroom began to change to unleash technology enhanced learning. horizontal rows could be moved into circular groupings around a laptop or smartboard, and colleges worked hard to increase the proportion of wired classrooms, multimedia classrooms, or whatever else classrooms were called at that time that were flexibly designed and technology ready. the broad range of excitement around advanced and flexible learning spaces is evident in the educause book learning spaces, which is replete with campus examples.10 so, frequently struggling with finances, at many community colleges technology ready classrooms often amounted to av carts, with technology wheeled in and out as needed, until fully wired classrooms became more ubiquitous. as these classrooms became more commonplace, other technologies were developed to further engage students, most notably student response systems ("clickers") that fit in well with the active learning movement that saw a resurgence during this same period perhaps as technology innovations created new possibilities for active engagement.11 beyond the sea change in physical classrooms, surely one of the most exciting changes experienced during this period was the creation of virtual learning spaces.12 as online enrollments continued to climb year after year at community colleges, more attention was focused on how to make virtual classrooms as engaging as or more engaging than traditional ones. in many respects, the reach clearly exceeded the grasp. during this time the idea of games and simulations, as well as virtual worlds, was stimulating, though the actual experience was often less exciting than the idea itself. "games for learning" and games for social good were inspiring, but early efforts were often clunky and more bolted on than integrated into a given course. grant funding would spur development of simulations that were often not sustainable beyond the initial infusion of cash, and a standard development engine was not in place. in short, games and simulations were arguably ahead of their time. it is difficult to find a better example than virtual worlds used for learning spaces to make this point. a. j. kelton was hedging his bets when he said that the "outlook is good" in this area while acknowledging the uncertainty around platforms like second life.13 alas, those who spent countless hours creating second life islands for their college, department, or course now find these sites barren and empty. those who need to experience firsthand the downside of ed tech hype could certainly go on a cautionary tour of some of these abandoned locations.14 as it staff and faculty wait to see how consumer virtual, augmented, and mixed reality products resolve into leading products and platforms, there is little doubt that what they thought might happen in the first decade of this century will happen in the years ahead. recent educause research suggests that 40 percent of colleges and universities will have institution wide deployments of augmented and virtual reality technologies in the next five years, and the flood of technology innovation anticipated a decade ago may well be fully realized now that ar and vr technology has advanced more fully. coinciding with these many layers of incremental and sometimes dynamic change, wave 2 was also a time of planting seeds. in many ways the conversations happening today related to potentially new models for higher education found their beginnings during this period and were to some degree enabled by technology advances and applications. broader creative reconfigurations of the semester may well be traced to rio salado college (az) in the maricopa community colleges system, whose online offerings were far ahead of their time in allowing multiple start times throughout an academic year instead of a few fixed start dates. similarly, this second wave of new technologies also encouraged broad interest at two year colleges in credit for prior learning and competency based education at scale with the creation and growing influence of western governors university. finally, an important spirit animating this period was the drive to more openness. this is not the flashy media story of later moocs, which was really more of a rogue wave than anything else, but a comprehensive belief in openness of all kinds.15 certainly, the "o" in moocs is involved, but also the many other open initiatives during this time, including mit's open courseware initiative (ocw), open source software and systems, open educational resource commons, creative commons, and more. the hewlett foundation was particularly important in expanding this work. this interest in openness at community colleges was an important offsetting response to persistent concerns at this time related to a growing realization of the digital divide, whereby online access (and later broadband connectivity) was discouragingly linked to socioeconomic status and location. naturally, community colleges were uniquely sensitive about issues of equity and focused on narrowing any digital divides. in some cases, local community colleges served literally as a connection hub not only for the college but for the greater community as well. both access and efficiency and the access and learning waves put technology "on purpose" in their own ways. put simply, once a need was identified, the available technology was applied to meet that need. early on, the pressing need was to address access and efficiency, as the ever scrappy community colleges were trying to do more with less in their work to bring more students into the fold. as the internet expanded and technology matured, it was clear that these tools also held the potential to bring the access and learning imperative to life. however, in a presentation at the league for innovation in the community college's conference on information technology in 1996, terry o'banion made a prescient and intentionally provocative observation: "the world wide web holds the horrible potential to make already terrible instruction that much more available." indeed, many early online classes ended up being illegible overheads repurposed to stale web pages. at the same time, the "learning paradigm" and "learning revolution" work began asking driving questions about how technology could be used to improve and expand learning significantly.16 however, a follow on question a far less comfortable question was also asked: how do we know? specifically, if technology was used, how is it known if it improved or expanded learning? for that matter, even if technology was not used, how do we know if any innovation or initiative improved or expanded learning? where are the data? the how do we know questions are both learning moments questions and learning journeys questions. as a result, technology tools emerged around learning outcomes mapped to learning journeys. most notably, digital learning portfolios allowed for more expansive and accessible strategies to capture the results of capstone or project based learning strategies. then technology tools to capture in class learning progression and mastery began taking shape. learning outcomes assessment became a toolset available to colleges that needed to map and document learning mastery for accreditation, licensure, and professional certification. as discussed in learning outcomes for the 21st century,17 leveraging technology to help answer the how do we know questions at this level was vital if learning centered innovation were to expand. however, these conversations were in some ways eclipsed as the completion agenda exploded on the scene in 2009 2010. it could be argued that up until the latter part of the first decade of the twenty first century, enrollment still ruled as the measure of a successful and healthy community college. while there had been clarion calls for an increased focus on other metrics,18 enrollment was the measure that mattered above all others in terms of public perception and fiscal stability. from diverse tuition strategies to the array of state and local funding models, operational sensitivity to enrollment was high. but the public perception and levers of funding were about to shift. suffice it to say that a confluence of federal, state, foundation, association, and intermediary initiatives, innovations, and research led to a clear understanding that access was simply not enough. for students, communities, and the nation to realize the potential of community college education, the completion of credentials had to be taken far more seriously. therefore, data and information to help improve the learning journey became paramount. however, given the long standing focus on enrollment particularly its close ties to funding models in most states and systems getting enrollment data and high stakes reports right still mattered. technology had been and still was being deployed to meet this need. from sophisticated spreadsheets to advanced business intelligence systems anchored in data warehousing and reporting tools, the goal was to get good information to boards, state regulators, federal agencies, and accreditors. this work was at best required and at worst existentially threatening. institutional research (ir) departments took their work seriously so much so that they were typically overwhelmed with requirements and particularly protective of their products and processes. harvesting data from existing erp systems was often difficult, made even more so by the need to bring together data from disparate systems outside of the purview of the student information system. still, through a variety of technology tools and sometimes very creative workarounds, innovations, and sleepless nights progressive data centric colleges collected key performance indicators (kpis) and followed emerging continuous quality improvement (cqi) traditions. for example, the continuous quality improvement network (cqin), an early and effective data centered organization, featured colleges that won the baldridge award (e.g., richland college, tx) in key publications and (e.g., community college of denver, co, in embracing the tiger). these early leaders were shining examples of the courage to learn and guide organizational change with data. as noted previously, over the last decade the field began to respond to emerging and at times explosive policy changes, practice pressures, and proactive leadership voices that made the case that enrollment and access were only part of the student success picture; progression and completion were core metrics that mattered as well.19 responding, however, meant an expansion of what was expected in the reports more than it meant the move to advanced analytics and predictive modeling right away. indeed, the most pressing needs were technology tools that would better respond to increasing calls for more, and more nuanced, data demands by large scale initiatives for example, achieving the dream, completion by design, complete college america, and the aspen prize and newly motivated boards, state agencies, accreditors, and federal agencies. at the same time, leading voices at the association of community college trustees (acct) began telling community college board members, "you may know your enrollment numbers, but if you don't know your institution's retention and completion rates, you're not able to effectively govern your college."20 as outlined in the white paper making the most of a healthy change in education, as early expanded data efforts gained steam, the higher education sector also began learning that an important innovation to help their students succeed at higher levels, and for the corresponding outcomes to improve, would involve putting data to work in new ways; in other words, they needed to explore advanced analytics.21 much as electronic medical records and digital tools had created deeper and richer information streams in health care, the access and instruction wave that flooded across community colleges had created deeper and richer data pools from which to draw insight on learners and their success pathways. initiatives like the action analytics symposiums at the minnesota state colleges and university system, the educause next generation learning challenge analytics challenges, and the predictive analytics reporting (par) framework, and companies began showing how institutions could bring together the best of modern data science (e.g., predictive modeling, machine learning, and sentiment analysis) and creative design thinking to better understand and respond to student challenges and opportunities. from deeper intelligence to targeted mind set nudging, a whole new suite of tools was now on the table. the next step in this journey, however, involved developing tools, technologies, and apps that could be deployed directly to faculty, advisers, and students to enable them to make better decisions on their journeys. researchers could "democratize the data" and involve more educators in student success innovation. the integrated planning and advising for student success system (ipass) work funded by the bill & melinda gates foundation arguably was one of the largest scale projects that attempted to explore the potential and impact of this work on student completion. focusing mainly on advising technology, ipass explored a family of technologies such as adviser case management apps, early warning systems, and career planning tools coupled with process and policy change. what became clear from these efforts was that advanced analytics held the potential to move the needle on student success. however, new systems, processes, and even leadership strategies would need to be put in place to truly make the most of these efforts.22 moreover, there was culture work to be done to help institutions embrace new perspectives on data and governance to create organizational readiness, particularly around privacy and ethical uses of analytics.23 there is compelling work under way on exploring learning moments and journeys. for example, leaders at the open learning initiative at stanford university and the link research lab at the university of texas at arlington are pushing the boundaries on linking learning technologies to learning science and affective response. moreover, analytically powered systems are now available to leverage student and institutional data to more precisely understand which innovations are working, at what level, and for which students. austin community college (tx) has done some impressive work to explore the impact of its accelerator learning lab on developmental math leveraging these tools.24 the student success matrix is a useful tool for conceptualizing the how  do we know anchoring question and its role in informing, improving, and shaping student success work (figure 1). it is a simple 2 by 2 that shows the potential of combining the power of technology enabled systems with the change management work focused on helping more students learn well and finish strong. on the x axis of the matrix is the level of capacity an institution has in conceptualizing and implementing change in policy and practice around student success, such as supplemental instruction, learning labs, flipped classrooms, and so on. the y axis tracks the capacity of an institution to develop insight, often through reporting and advanced analytic technology tools and systems. the resulting matrix provides a typology of community colleges and their ability to make the most of their student success work. not surprisingly, there are low/low institutions that focus on data work because they are required to do so by accreditors and state agencies. moreover, they are deeply uninterested in changing how they are doing things. indeed, for them, a "culture of evidence" means they work to find evidence that what they are already doing is working. then there are institutions that are high on insight, yet low on change capacity. in these institutions, the institutional research shops work hard to develop sophisticated reporting and analytic strategies and systems. however, more often than not these data remain trapped in reports and or committees, confounded by analysis paralysis. more common, however, are institutions that are doing hard work around change in the low insight, high change capacity quadrant. they are adopting best practices that have worked at peer institutions, often a cornucopia of best practices. what they lack is the ability to use the data to try, test, and tune the possible practices based on their data. far too often these institutions experience initiative fatigue as they continue to innovate but don't see substantial progress or they cannot decide which of their initiatives are responsible for any progress they see, or do not see. the good news is that the upper right quadrant is becoming more crowded as it becomes more common for student success leaders to expand and improve their capacity through advanced analytics and qualitative explorations. this insight is then coupled with skill and will in change management to measurably move the needle on student success work. most exciting is that the deep work in this quadrant also holds the potential to bring more of the access, efficiency, learning, and success innovation together for students. indeed, it may be the key to community colleges making the most of the next wave: access and transformation. i never try to teach my students anything; i only try to create an environment in which they can learn.  albert einstein in the wave to come, the momentum will shift toward access and transformation to afford more and more diverse students the opportunity to engage with a transformative college, do transformative learning work, and experience a learning journey that opens transformative pathways to possibilities for learning and work. higher education is likely to see an explosion in digital curricular resources both publisher and open community driven  that allow for instructors to flexibly enlighten and engage students and for independent learners to drive their own learning. game based learning, the efficacy of which richard van eck calls "settled science,"25 will continue to expand and refine its ability to bring learning to life in new and exciting ways. virtual reality and augmented reality will bring learning context for example, relevance, application, and utility to learners in deeper and richer ways than ever thought possible. while these tools will make for more engaging spaces for students to learn than ever before, the internet of things (iot) will become more the norm, connecting a host of devices, appliances, clothing, health monitors, and more. using data from iot for improving the student experience, learn  ing, and completion will become commonplace. as a result, privacy, governance processes and security in data use will remain critical topics. these challenges notwithstanding, students will press for far more personalized pathways and precise outreach to support their learning journeys. all this means analytics will need to rise to the next level. it staff and faculty will have to create optimization strategies that support efficiency, learning, student success outcomes, and transformative student experiences. the tools will be diverse, the data will be deep, and the expectations will be high. an exciting time is at hand. community college faculty are poised to have more tools, techniques, and technologies at their fingertips than ever before to help students access learning, succeed on their learning journeys, and ready themselves for productive careers and lives. kash calls it the coming "golden age of learning," when key players are able to try, test, tune, and learn together all in a collective effort to watch students make the most of their time in the nation's community colleges.26 given the waves already here, not to mention those to come, community college leaders had all better collectively grab their boards, check their balance, and get ready to ride! john o'brien is president and ceo of educause. mark david milliron is co founder and chief learning officer of civitas learning. this article is a chapter in 13 ideas that are transforming the community college world, edited by terry u. o'banion and published by rowman & littlefield and the american association of community colleges in march 2019. all rights reserved. when ordering the book from rowman & littlefield (call toll free 1 800 462 6420 or order online at www.rowman.com), mention special code "rlegen18" and receive a 20% discount. copies can also be purchased from amazon, barnes & noble, and other booksellers. sign up for free educause review weekly emails to hear about new content. log in or create an educause profile to manage your subscriptions.

with working students desperate for flexibility and employers seeking tech skills, online learning is in high demand. so why are community colleges struggling to provide it? by sara weissman and lauren coffey you have /5 articles left.sign up for a free account or log in. student demand for online classes has risen dramatically, but many community colleges are struggling to keep up. drazen_/e+/getty images as the dean of online learning at portland community college, it’s hard for heather guevara to overstate her college’s reliance on technology, especially post pandemic. professors at the oregon institution and at other community colleges across the country are no longer simply lecturing in their courses. they’re now incorporating videos and expecting students to engage in online discussion. students are also accessing online courses while on campus, along with email and online learning portals. as a result, portland community college, despite having fewer students on campus than it used to, is hurting from the pressure to keep students connected, with many faculty and students struggling to access wi fi on campus. “students are depending on campuses to have reliable wi fi and access to the technology they need to manage their personal lives,” guevara said. “it’s, ‘i’ll submit that thing for the dmv,’ or ‘i’ll look at financial aid status.’ they don’t come to school and stop being a parent and employee. “the irony is we don’t have as many students on campus, but the single student user need is greater.” since the covid 19 pandemic abruptly shifted students to remote education, student demand for online courses and programs has skyrocketed, especially at community colleges. but ramping up online education at breakneck speed, and now adopting the necessary technology to sustain these offerings long term and at high standards, is no small feat for often cash strapped and understaffed institutions recovering from steep pandemic enrollment declines. russell poulin, vice president for technology enhanced education at the western interstate commission for higher education (wiche), said colleges expected students to stream back to campuses after the pandemic and were “caught a little flat footed” when that wasn’t the case. “most of them had infrastructure for faculty development, instructional design, all this, for the amount of courses and programs that they were teaching online. now it grew, sort of in an unplanned way, and they’re struggling to catch up with that,” said poulin, who is also executive director of the wiche cooperative for educational technologies (wcet). while plenty of research has been conducted on the usage of technology in higher ed, it has rarely differentiated between two  and four year institutions, according to jeff seaman, director of bayview analytics, a statistical research firm. he noted that researchers scrambled to monitor the change in higher ed generally after the pandemic. “there was so much change with declining enrollment, the need to revamp programs, that the ability to take a step back and say, ‘how is it different across subsets?’ makes it much more difficult to do that research,” he said. despite the lacking data, technology adoption is becoming more of a when than an if, according to seaman. at northern virginia community college (nova), the majority of students are now taking online courses. the college, which has offered distance learning for 40 years, was well positioned to take on the “extreme” growth in online learning, said cynthia pascal, associate vice president of e learning at nova. a full 67.6 percent took an online course in the 2022 23 academic year. pascal said nova has been partnering with other community colleges in virginia to help them build up their online offerings. the college also offers shared services distance learning, which allows students at other community colleges to take online classes at nova for credit at their home institutions. “it’s not that the other institutions aren’t experts. it’s that they’re underresourced, especially when you think about our rural community colleges,” pascal said. she finds that institutions have big dreams but limited budgets and staffing and are also challenged by “getting faculty to the same level of quality and confidence” online. the college ramped up professional development for instructors and has systems in place to identify “orange or red flags” signs that a student is struggling in an online course and needs academic advisers to intervene. that requires “strong technology.” “these are students who are often parents, they’re often caretakers. they’re often working not one, but two, sometimes three jobs,” pascal said. “so while our courses can be wonderful, if we don’t have the support resources in place … they’re going to continue to struggle.” some states, including california, are using shared systems to ensure all faculty members have the same confidence level. the california community colleges system put all 116 institutions on one shared learning management system, and 55 institutions are in a cross enrollment program, allowing students to take online courses at any of the participating institutions across the state. the push is the result of an initiative started more than a decade ago focused on online education. “there isn’t a long process of planning, research, design, then get it approved. it’s, ‘let’s see what sticks, because they need us now,’” said marina aminy, director of california virtual campus, a statewide initiative focused on college completion. “we have the neediest students with the highest risk to drop out; let’s see what works for them.” state funding for the system is based on a formula that includes student enrollment and completion rates. california is not the only state with a cross enrollment focus idaho, montana and the university of maryland have similar initiatives, according to aminy. “the idea you have a home college is super dated, and the student centric idea is a seamless boundary of opening up the walls to include more options to let them decide.” the technology implementation could help with declines in enrollment, which are expected to continue over the next decade as the number of traditional age students dwindles nationwide. fewer students means offering fewer courses in all modalities, meaning a majority of students will have to take at least one course online because it is no longer offered in person. that reliance on virtual courses creates a strain on campus infrastructure. “they may have to go to the library, put on a headset and participate in a zoom class; the wi fi need is so much greater than walking to their next class,” guevara said. she noted that many campus resources, such as financial aid and admissions departments, also have virtual offices further straining the infrastructure. “technology adoption is hard to do, especially when you’re underfunded,” said hoori kalamkarian, senior research associate at the community college research center at columbia university’s teachers college. “it takes a lot of training time, staff time, getting a buy in among the staff and doing that at a community college is especially challenging.” jee hang lee, president and ceo of the association of community college trustees, said state policymakers sometimes incorrectly assume that increasing online education saves community colleges money by lowering the costs of maintaining physical campuses. he emphasized that campus facilities still have to be open for the students who use them, which comes with all the usual costs. plus, online education has its own expenses, such as the need for heightened cybersecurity at a time when ransomware attacks have become increasingly common. poulin noted that wcet staff members met with a small focus group of six students, half of them attending community colleges, who complained about not knowing what modalities certain courses would be taught in or what technologies those courses would require at the time of registration. “we had one student who said that she just had to drop the class because she couldn’t afford the extra technology,” he said. clear institutional policies and communication around online education are key “to make sure that they’re serving students well.” theresa umscheid, executive director of the iowa community college online consortium, a network of six colleges that share online courses, said as online enrollments grow, some of the colleges have had to get creative about how to use buildings that are now underused. for example, iowa lakes community college now uses its extra building space for on campus career and technical education classes for high school students. colleges have also had trouble filling some of their in person courses, to the chagrin of some faculty members who prefer to teach on campus. the consortium dates back to 1999 and already had robust online infrastructure and faculty development in place. but it can still be a challenge “training a reluctant audience,” umscheid said. community colleges also face roadblocks in adopting the technology they need due in part to the high number of adjunct professors employed by the colleges. as contingent faculty members, these workers often do not have authority to change the course curriculum. they also sometimes work at more than one college, with different technology systems. procurement can also be problematic for community colleges, according to james wiley at listedtech, an education focused market research firm. “pricing might be out of their league and they can’t get a pooled or shared contract, since a lot of vendors do not specialize or target community colleges,” said wiley, a vice president of product and research. “and it becomes really difficult to justify the cost of such a big ticket item at a community college.” lee said students’ academic outcomes are at stake if colleges don’t scale up their online classes in a way that ensures their quality. the key question, he said, becomes “how do we create a structure that supports the students? … how do we do online advising, counseling, all these components in this structure that has traditionally been more face to face for our students?” kalamkarian, of the community college research center, said having the technology itself is not sufficient. “it’s, ‘do you have a vision? how are you going to use it? how will the student experience improve?’ then you can get the staff onboard in terms of designing and using it.” kalamkarian believes communication platforms are the most popular technological tool among community colleges, which allow staff to target messages toward specific student populations. there are also data dashboards to help advisers and support staff to better view their caseloads and the overall student population, and advising technologies, which can help identify students who need more support and prevent dropouts. artificial intelligence, an increasingly pervasive technology on college campuses, also raises some concerns for two year colleges, including fear of plagiarism and the loss of critical thinking skills, worries that are also evident at four year institutions. students tend to use this new technology more than faculty members and administrators. “they’re turning a blind eye, or incorporating it, but a majority are clueless about what’s happening,” aminy said of faculty members and administrators. “i think it’s going to be an entire other can of worms to impact technology in new ways.” wiley said ai could be transformative for community colleges: used for managing students’ transfer transcripts and tracking learning outcomes to help “set them up for success” and create a path for smoother transfers to four year institutions. “that’s the holy grail,” wiley said. “and you’ll see more of that and a lot of excitement in that world.” aminy hopes online education improves as it grows. “but there has to be a concentrated effort and funding to continue to support it,” she said. wiley believes that, unlike some four year institutions that are fully diving into technology, community colleges will move at a slower pace. “we are going to see them invest more, but it’ll be slow and very intentional,” wiley said. “it won’t be this is a shiny new object. it’s, ‘let’s be very careful to see if this is suitable for us and [will] further our goals.’” lee said that transition is imperative. “the days of yesteryear, where the vast majority of students were largely within your brick and mortar, especially for your core academic programs, is long gone,” he said. “and colleges have to really be prepared.” a growing number of institutions across the country are looking to shore up their finances by eliminating athletic pr a recent report finds fewer than three dozen community colleges nationwide received reimbursement from medicaid in th congress looked set to pass the bipartisan bill to update the workforce development law but then scrapped the legisla a new survey finds that while most likely voters question higher ed’s price, they view some types of institutions mor explore the challenges & opportunities for college leaders in the ever evolving world of division 1 athletics. view newsletters copyright © 2025 inside higher ed all rights reserved. | website designed by nclud 4/5 articles remainingthis month.

ã‚â© 2007 karen a. stout educause review, vol. 42, no. 3 (may/june 2007): 6 7 a relatively new movement, shaped by a number of intersecting factors, is dramatically influencing the work of today's community college leaders, requiring us to think differently about the way we lead our it areas in order to help our students and our colleges succeed. this new movement calls for and requires a sharper, more strategic, institution wide focus on student success. preserving access and extending the reach of our community colleges from financial, geographic, and demographic perspectives remain paramount. yet we must also dedicate energy, resources, and administrative infrastructure to ensure that students from diverse backgrounds have equal opportunities to reach their educational goals. this dual strategic focus on access and success requires obvious transformation in the academic and student affairs areas of community colleges. what is less obvious, perhaps, is the requirement for it leaders and presidents to think and act differently about the role of information technology on community college campuses. within the last year, montgomery county community college (mccc) has implemented a number of new initiatives oriented to student success. these include the creation of a student success center, the launching of a call center, the move toward a case management approach in student advising, and the development of a balanced scorecard to measure the success (course completion, semester to semester retention, graduation) of at risk students in developmental studies, esl, and first level college courses (gatekeeper courses). these new initiatives have put increasing pressure on the it unit as it also works to support these activities while continuing to deploy and care for classroom and enterprise systems. it leaders and presidents must begin to think of information technology as transformational rather than transactional. in this new environment, with a sharp focus on student success, enterprise systems can no longer be implemented and stewarded by one department with the support of information technology or by information technology with the support of a lone department. instead, the focus on student success requires horizontal integration of enterprise system implementation plans across many units administration and finance, student affairs, academic affairs, human resources, institutional research, marketing requiring that the it leader be a facilitator, a connector, and a convener of the parts. these parts are not just internal, especially at community colleges where success rests so deeply in community connections with high schools and university partners as well as with key community based organizations. in this role as facilitator and convener, the it leader becomes the point person and catalyst for process improvement. in some cases, the cio becomes the chief innovation officer. a solutions orientation that is system wide, not project or tool based, is also required. deep and meaningful collaboration with users becomes critical, as does providing continuous opportunity for feedback. the cio must be sure, for example, that student impact and student input are continuously measured and gathered to inform decision making. it leaders need to be familiar with focus group methodologies, and they need to dig deeply into existing research on student satisfaction, student engagement, graduate follow up studies, and community perception surveys to look for opportunities for the proactive improvement of services. it leaders also need to be more aware than ever of best technology practices in student service. they must be willing to share this knowledge with colleagues, convene benchmarking trips to see these best practice applications firsthand, seek presentations from new technology vendors to stretch the thinking of on campus users, and encourage and support experimentation with new technologies. the cio must be willing to seed the technological curiosity of power users so that they can find and own technology based solutions that support student achievement. asking users about technologies and opportunities versus telling users about technologies and opportunities becomes essential to supporting an environment focused on student success. at mccc, our information systems have been set up primarily to track inputs applicants, registrants, financial aid recipients and we have spent much time examining the patterns of these inputs. during registration times, our enrollment reports (tracking inputs) are circulated regularly and proudly. we must do the same type of regular reporting on outputs on student success. i've challenged my leadership team to develop a regular "student success" report to share with the college community. we are also piloting a new balanced scorecard tool that helps us to set targets in key student success categories and to benchmark our progress against ourselves and against state and national cohort colleges. this switch in focus is difficult for our it and institutional research areas. at community colleges, both areas are leanly supported, and this new requirement places additional stresses on the infrastructures of these areas. in the it area, data integrity issues become larger than ever with the increased attention to metrics. in addition, a new skill set in data warehousing is required. in the institutional research area, the call for analysis that extends beyond frequency and demographic description requires new skills sets and also a new relationship with it leaders in pulling the required data sets from the system and in establishing new data marts to support deeper reporting and analytical expectations. the most important role for the president is to collaboratively establish a vision and a strategic plan that set aspirational goals for the college. the president must work to align the work of information technology to strategically support the achievement of these goals. at mccc, our past strategic plan placed most technology goals within a section entitled "aligning the infrastructure." our new plan does not single out technology as a strategic issue. instead, technology has a supporting role, assisting in the achievement of the plan's six strategic goals, one of which is the overarching goal to extend student access and improve student success. in addition to ensuring that technology efforts are aligned with the plan, the president must continually articulate and reinforce the need for this alignment. this means using the plan's priorities to mediate tensions between key leaders who are vying for technology support. the alignment of technology with the plan's priorities also means that promising and innovative pilot applications of technologies won't lead to an uneven academic environment or an uneven learning experience, with potential uneven learning outcomes for students. in our case, i've empowered the cio to prioritize based on how an it enabled initiative advances (or does not advance) student success. presidents can also aid the success of information technology by setting up clear systems for decision making related to it policy. our information technology all college committee (itacc), co chaired by a faculty member and the cio, advises me on it policies that are vital to student success. in addition, i strongly believe that the cio must be a direct report of the president and must be sitting at the leadership table when large scale decisions (whether technology dependent or not) that affect student learning are being considered. finally, and most important, presidents must continue to ask the hard and strategic questions (e.g., what evidence do we have that student success is improved through the adoption and use of specific technologies?) while also creating and preserving safe forums that foster these honest and essential conversations. sign up for free educause review weekly emails to hear about new content. log in or create an educause profile to manage your subscriptions.

some colleges are still offering half or the majority of their classes online in response to student demand. by sara weissman you have /5 articles left.sign up for a free account or log in. east los angeles college still offers the majority of its courses online. danie maxwell/los angeles times/getty images east los angeles college, the most populous campus in the california community college system, offered 60 percent of its courses in a hybrid or online format this past spring, most of them asynchronous. prior to the covid 19 pandemic, fewer than a quarter of courses were offered online. miguel duenas, vice president of student services at east los angeles, expects the breakdown of online versus in person classes to be similar for the fall semester because many students juggling work and family responsibilities prefer hybrid or fully online courses. he said students have made their preferences clear via their enrollment trends online course sections at the college have filled much more quickly lately than in person courses. “that’s something we’ve observed for the past couple semesters … it gives them the flexibility to manage their lives and a lot of the needs that they have,” duenas said. although the shift to remote learning was precipitated by the pandemic, many community colleges, which disproportionately serve older adults and working people, are continuing to offer at least half of their courses online in response to growing student demand for more flexible options. some colleges administrators are even proactively expanding and improving their online offerings or making their current offerings more accessible. data from the california community college system over all show significant student interest in online courses, even as colleges sought to transition back to in person learning. a 2021 system survey of 400 prospective students found that more than half of respondents favored hybrid courses, 27 percent wanted all online instruction and 18 percent preferred in person classes, according to a report from the system chancellor’s office. the same report details a survey of california community college districts that found that about half planned to offer 50 to 85 percent of course sections in person in spring 2022, while another 32 percent of districts planned to offer between 10 percent and 49 percent of their course sections in person. “many districts found that overall, students show a higher demand for online courses,” the report read. “in looking at the community college districts’ mix of in person and online courses and plans for future instruction, the survey results show a large variance across the system in efforts to meet local student need and community conditions. some districts are quickly transitioning back to in person instruction, while other districts are finding that there is greater demand for online instruction.” community colleges in other states have also seen continued demand for online learning. at northern virginia community college, which has offered distance learning for 42 years, the number of students taking online courses recently surged. between summer 2021 and 2022, online enrollment increased by more than 10 percent. out of the 44,885 students enrolled at the college in spring 2023, 12,919 were enrolled online more than a quarter of the student population. cynthia pascal, associate vice president of e learning at nova, said it’s not that students weren’t excited by the idea of returning to campuses. “our students tend to be pell eligible, very close to the poverty line, tend to be working one or two jobs, tend to have children,” she said. “so, you have this excitement and wanting to see your friends, wanting to engage with instructors, wanting to engage with a school community, but then you have these responsibilities. and at the end of the day, you have to pick up your kid from soccer.” demand for online courses was so high this summer that the college added six more online courses just a few days before the last summer session began, pascal said. she noted that four year institutions seem to be experiencing different trends. “the four year institutions are really seeing a return to traditional college where the students are being encouraged to go back to classes,” she said. “they’re limiting online offerings, intentionally forcing students back into the space.” the colorado community college system also saw online enrollment increase more than in person enrollment. compared to this time last year, online enrollment for the fall term is up by 8 to 10 percent, while in person enrollment is up 5 or 6 percent across the system. landon pirius, the system’s vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, said colleges are starting to market their all online programs better now that they’re so clearly in demand. “now we’re starting to really tell students, ‘you can do this all online if you want,’” he said. the system is also currently rolling out colorado online, a platform that will allow community college students across the state to take online courses at different institutions in the system. pirius said it offers more flexibility to students and prevents the system from offering underenrolled classes on various campuses by combining some of them into online classes. “we realized, especially during the pandemic, that we can’t continue to offer courses that are low enrolled and expect to be able to pay our bills,” he said. “but if you take four students from one college and four students from another and four students from another, now you’ve got 25 students in a class … it’s financially sustainable.” nikki edgecombe, senior researcher at the community college research center at teachers college of columbia university, said as far as she knows, there isn’t any current national data on what share of community college courses remain online. but she hears anecdotally that some campuses are still offering roughly half of their classes remotely, and students seem to be returning to some kinds of classes in person at higher rates than others. courses considered “harder,” such as mathematics and physics, appear to be drawing more in person students back to campuses compared to general education requirements, which students seem more confident to take online. “i think we’re trying to sort out what that looks like post pandemic, and my sense is things are still shaking out,” she said. edgecombe said some community college leaders worry that while online options are more convenient for many students, academic outcomes from online courses tend to be weaker than on campus courses. as result, the leaders may want to bring more students back to campuses in the future. multiple studies have shown that community college students perform better academically in a nonremote environment and are more likely to persist, though she believes the pandemic spurred community colleges to improve online teaching and learning techniques. “we’re still trying to determine, exactly, is that trade off necessarily worth it,” she said. “we want students to be successful in these courses and enroll in the modality that really supports their success.” she said some college leaders are also concerned about underutilized campuses. “institutions have large campuses with buildings full of classrooms, and they’re aware of the need to really leverage that classroom space,” she said. “those are fixed costs.” maintaining mostly online courses can also require the use of additional resources by colleges. pascal noted that high demand for online courses requires not only more faculty members, but more instructors willing to teach on short notice, as online courses are being added at the last minute to meet student needs. kevin jimenez, public information officer at east los angeles college, said the college continues to offer free wi fi hotspots to students after learning of the need early in the pandemic. the need has not waned as many students continue to take online classes. “our student population primarily comes from a socioeconomic background that’s a little less advantageous as most people in america,” he said. “there was a big gap in terms of technology access. some students didn’t have any internet in their house.” as more courses are offered online, community college students are also no longer place bound or limited to taking courses at the campus closest to where they live. this has created a more competitive dynamic for community colleges, he said. “before, you had a lot of these local high schools where kids felt like, ‘ok, if i want to go to community college, i kind of have to go to my local school, because i can’t really fully take a class online that’s across the city from me,’” he said. “now … they never have to even step foot on the campus. so, it’s really worked where students have the power now to choose their own education, even on the community college level, kind of like they do with the four year.” jimenez has met students who are taking classes at up to three different community colleges in the nine campus district based on what courses best fit their schedules or were still open. “it’s made us all kind of think and look at things differently,” he said. “i don’t really ever see us going back unless the needs of our students reflect that,” he said. holden thorp writes that the public response from college presidents to the trump administration’s orders has been qu a recent report finds fewer than three dozen community colleges nationwide received reimbursement from medicaid in th congress looked set to pass the bipartisan bill to update the workforce development law but then scrapped the legisla a new survey finds that while most likely voters question higher ed’s price, they view some types of institutions mor explore the challenges & opportunities for college leaders in the ever evolving world of division 1 athletics. view newsletters copyright © 2025 inside higher ed 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when asked about their preferences for a post pandemic academic experience, most community college students in a recent survey said they want to take some courses in a fully online format, and many desired a combination of in person and online instruction. the key takeaway: students need more flexible learning options, according to the research from cengage and bay view analytics. the latest installment of the digital learning pulse survey, conducted by bay view analytics on behalf of cengage in partnership with the association of community college trustees, achieving the dream, phi theta kappa, the online learning consortium, the higher education research & development institute and college pulse, polled 2,266 students, 1,248 faculty and 831 administrators at community colleges across the united states in october and november 2021, to better understand the learning experience of community college students during the pandemic and beyond. during the fall 2021 semester, the majority of two year student respondents   78%   were taking online or hybrid classes. just 22% of students were taking only in person classes, an increase from 14% in spring 2021. student preferences for the future included: the survey also asked students about the key barriers to their success. among the challenges reported: when analyzing the challenges by course modality, the researchers found that students taking in person courses reported more problems with work and technology issues than students learning online or in a hybrid format. other factors, such as stress and motivation issues, had roughly equal impact across online, hybrid and in person students. additional findings included: complete survey results, in the form of an infographic and webinar presentation, are available on the cengage site. about the author rhea kelly is editor in chief for campus technology, the journal, and spaces4learning. she can be reached at [email protected]. e mail this page printable format arizona's pima community college is elevating the digital campus experience for students, faculty, and staff with a new portal built on the pathify digital engagement platform. ed tech provider gotit! education has announced the general availability of mathgpt, an ai tutor and teaching assistant for foundational math support. openai, softbank, and oracle have unveiled a new venture, stargate, through which they aim to build a massive ai infrastructure network across the united states. the initiative, which was announced at the white house with president donald trump, has been described as the "largest ai infrastructure project in history." now that he's more than a year and a half into his chief digital officer role at njit, we've asked ed wozencroft to reflect on his areas of concentration: what work must digital leaders "own" in 2025? more portals more webcasts more white papers

k 12 products details simplify teaching and learning activities, organize coursework, and keep teachers, students, and families connected and communicating all in one place. details drive learning outcomes with high quality assessments and actionable insights that inform and improve teaching and learning. details maximize edtech usage with data backed support and communication tools that help educators unlock the full potential of their tech. details make evidence based decisions about edtech investments to ensure their safety, cost effectiveness, compliance and efficacy. details unlock the full potential of your data with ai powered insights that reveal what's working, what's not, and where you need to focus your efforts. case study <!  td {border: 1px solid #cccccc;}br {mso data placement:same cell;}  > kenmore   town of tonawanda: fulfilling the need for a true lms higher education solutions details empower learning with a centralized hub that keeps students and faculty connected, engaged, and supported all in one easy to use platform. details maximize edtech usage with data backed support and communication tools that help educators unlock the full potential of their tech. details ai powered insights that turn data into action, making it easy for administrators to drive better student and campus outcomes. intelligent insights data informed decision making at scale professional ed solutions details streamline learning and development with a flexible, user friendly platform that supports growth, enhances engagement, and drives impactful results. details optimize edtech usage with data driven insights and seamless communication tools to boost engagement and drive measurable success. details maximize the potential of your learning data with ai powered insights that improve outcomes and enable data driven decision making at scale. case study supporting one of the largest sports organizations with canvas lms centers by type lifelong learning report trends and insights from k 12 to career news events the company we value the edtech collective community colleges are under increasing pressure to support more students with less funding and faculty than traditional 4 year colleges and universities. this divide is further widening the substantial inequity community college students are already dealing with, particularly those who are part time adult learners and parents, most of whom are in rural areas. because of this, many community colleges have pivoted to a competency based education model that allows students to progress by demonstrating mastery of skills rather than traditional credit hours. this growing demand for convenience has increased the popularity and demand for self paced courses and badging programs that offer portfolio ready credentials. as more community colleges turn to cbe initiatives to exercise their agency and provide pragmatic, effective, and scalable solutions to support their student population, there are three components of successful cbe plans to consider: community colleges are meeting the growing demand for convenience by providing self service learning tools. these tools, such as self registration and self paced courses, provide students the flexibility they need to balance their multiple roles in life. with this technology, students can enroll, learn, and receive support on the go. the increased competition from other online skill building programs is driving community colleges to focus on maximizing their limited resources. the best way for them to do this is by using a centralized storefront for enrollment, payments, and certificates to help bridge the gap and ensure that all students have access to the same high quality education regardless of their college choice. this allows colleges to streamline enrollment and make it easier for students to access the necessary courses. for full assurance that your institution can reach every learner where they are, mobile apps can help bridge the gap and provide all students access to the same high quality education. mobile apps have become great equalizers for community colleges with the understanding that not all students have access to laptops or tablets and are often juggling full time jobs and other responsibilities while enrolled in courses. but students aren’t the only ones who benefit from improved access to learning tools; educators can now provide instant support and foster connection from anywhere. we’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: career readiness is the #1 factor for student success. but how do students provide employers with credentials and proof of skills in a digital world? similarly, how do community colleges demonstrate the ability to equip students for the workforce? the answer is digital badging. whether busy learners are interested in starting a new career or upskilling to advance in their current career, badging is an efficient and cost effective way of offering credentials to ensure that the time students invest in learning can be verified and shared. badges encourage students to pursue their educational and extracurricular activities through personalized, buildable pathways to guide them along the way. instructors can add co curricular planning and evaluation to any pathway they create, such as program pathways, first year student pathways, and more. it’s a win win for everyone. community colleges play an essential role in higher education, but the difficulty of recruiting and retaining students is a continuous challenge. this is partly due to the lack of access to financial or structural support for students to refine their skills and show them to employers. by using the instructure learning platform, community colleges can leverage accessible tools to deliver teaching in an effective and efficient way, as well as provide students with a smooth transition from courses to a career. learn how community colleges are pivoting to cbe and streamlining their edtech ecosystems to provide equitable learning access to students. discover more topics: blogs read on blogs read on blogs read on global hq 6330 south 3000 east suite 700 salt lake city, ut 84121 usa copyright © 2008 2025 instructure, inc. all rights reserved. various trademarks held by their respective owners.

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faced with steep enrollment declines and increased stop out rates, community colleges must re envision how they are engaging students. here are three technology enabled strategies to support student success. over the past two years, a global health crisis and an uncertain economy have plagued higher education admissions and enrollment, particularly in community colleges. as a result, many community colleges decided to take a step back, reflect and determine how to invest in student engagement and outcomes to better match a shifting landscape. community colleges serve everyone, including non traditional, under resourced and underrepresented students such as first generation college students, working parents and bipoc populations. many of these students were disproportionately affected when the pandemic hit and at the same time, some community college students weren't prepared for the rapid transition to online learning. all of these factors contributed to steep declines in enrollment and increased stop out rates. so, community college leaders were left wondering, "how do we increase student enrollment while also establishing clear pathways to set all students, specifically vulnerable ones, up for post college success?" a three part strategy is emerging. the first step in ensuring all students have access to services and support is enhancing communication so that they know all the options and resources available to them. proactive, timely and human outreach should be initiated to get ahead of issues through early intervention, and communications should be customized to meet students wherever they are   online, in person, etc. by utilizing live and automated outreach capabilities, schools can connect with students about any academic concerns or financial barriers, as well as make students feel that the institution is investing in them. with a data driven, personalized approach, institutions can easily tailor communications to a student's preferred medium, whether that's e mail, text or via a student information system. according to a report by the center for community college student engagement (ccsse) at the university of texas at austin, 57% of surveyed students said they didn't know if their college had support services to help them cope with pandemic related stress. an approach to highlighting mental health supports could include having clear, quick to find and easy to follow collateral on the school's website; alert texts and e mails to remind students of scheduled sessions with advisers; and making faculty aware that support services exist. not only should students be able to quickly find information about the services, but they should also be able to easily make appointments or reach out for more information in a centralized hub, with an emphasis on privacy and removing the stigma some students may feel when accessing mental health supports. one of the best ways to ensure college students are workforce ready is to put them in real world situations where they can network and gain first hand experience in their industry of choice. two year institutions are called community colleges for a reason, because of the close connection to their local communities and the employers that reside there. by building and maintaining solid relationships with industry professionals and offering internships, apprenticeships and mock interviews, schools can help guide the trajectory of a student's academic experience into their future career. in addition, institutions that are connecting the dots between programs offered and specific career opportunities can clarify for students the pathway from classroom to paycheck. students need to be able to easily access occupational outcomes and associated programs and/or certificates via websites and online course catalogs.