Community College Initiatives

Helping counselors counsel

The Community College Sourcebook: Strategies for Advising Transfer Students from Experienced Community College Counselors is a one-of-a-kind reference manual. It provides counselors with resources to serve community college students whose goal is to transfer and earn the baccalaureate degree. The second edition is a complete revision of the original Sourcebook and includes new chapters on serving first-generation students and a primer on assessment and placement best practices.

Creating first chances for second-chance students

Preparation is the key for student success, whether a student starts college in a four-year or two-year institution. The College Board helps students prepare for this important transition by offering  free information for community college students on this website. In addition, community college students benefit from using MyRoad™. MyRoad is an interactive website enabling students to explore majors, careers, and educational options, such as transfer to a four-year college or university.

Reimagining remediation

The Community College Advisory Panel (CCAP) and the National Office of Community College are working with professionals nationally to highlight the need for effective policies and practices that help academically unprepared students succeed in college.

In 2009, largely in response to the need of community college testing professionals, the College Board’s ACCUPLACER® suite of placement examinations was completely updated. In addition to providing assessments of reading, writing and mathematics, ACCUPLACER, in 2010, has added a series of diagnostic examinations providing assessment experts and faculty with detailed analyses of student strengths and weaknesses to better calibrate developmental education interventions. 

Supporting a community college renaissance

Destinations of Choice: A Reexamination of Community Colleges in American Education is a CCAP project to initiate a public dialogue about the importance of community colleges in American education and the role these institutions play in advancing student success. In addition, the National Commission on Community Colleges issued a report in early 2008 recommending specific strategies to strengthen these institutions, so that they may more effectively respond to the challenges facing the nation.

Enhancing student transfer

The College Board works to develop advising resources for community college students who are preparing to transfer to a four-year institution. In addition, we disseminate articles and policy papers focusing on strategies to strengthen student transfer. In July 2011, the College Board released Improving Student Transfer from Community Colleges to Four-Year Institutions – The Perspective of Leaders from Baccalaureate-Granting Institutions, incorporating the insights of education leaders from nearly two dozen four-year college and universities. In 2011-12, the College Board will release the findings from its Transfer Policy Project, a comprehensive analysis of the transfer pathway. This initiative, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will feature the advice of national transfer experts from two- and four-year institutions; highlight the findings of empirical research commissioned specifically for this effort; and delineate effective policies and practices that support a more robust transfer pathway.

Reports, publications, and other resources

The National Office of Community College Initiatives sponsors reports, policy briefs, and articles to highlight critical and emerging issues that affect community colleges. Visit the Community College Publications Archive.