Community colleges serve a key role in increasing college access, yet their completion rates lag far behind 4-year universities, and policies such as tuition discounts and promise programs come up short in buoying the success of low-income students. We examined the efficacy of a supplemental program developed to strengthen advising and financial supports provided to full- and part-time community college students facing greater barriers to college completion. Using a mixed-methods approach with administrative and interview data, we found strong associations between supplemental program participation and students’ credits earned, college persistence, academic performance, full-time status, wages, and college transfer and completion. Our qualitative analysis illuminates mechanisms by which the supplemental program aids students in balancing external obligations and advancing toward completion.
Heinrich et al. (Thu,) studied this question.