For low-income people, community colleges offer an important pathway out of poverty and into better jobs. But a host of factors, including inadequate financial aid or student services and poor developmental classes, can keep them from enrolling in and completing postsecondary education.  more

Summer Bridge Programs: Creating Opportunities for Low-Income Youth In a commentary that originally appeared in Youth Today, Rob Ivry makes the case for “summer bridge” programs for rising high school seniors who are college-bound but not yet college-ready. They would take college prep classes on community college campuses, where they would also have summer jobs. Does Education Increase Economic Mobility? MDRC Announces Doctoral Fellowship Program for Summer 2010 MDRC to Evaluate National Developmental Education Initiative MDRC Releases 2009-2010 Corporate Report

Terms of Engagement Men of Color Discuss Their Experiences in Community College This report takes an in-depth look at the perceptions and experiences of 87 African-American, Hispanic, and Native American men who were enrolled in developmental math courses at four community colleges. The study explores how the students’ experiences in their high schools and communities, as well as their identities as men of color, influenced their decision to go to college and their engagement in school. Guiding Developmental Math Students to Campus Services An Impact Evaluation of the Beacon Program at South Texas College Paying for College Success An Introduction to the Performance-Based Scholarship Demonstration Building Student Success From the Ground Up A Case Study of an Achieving the Dream College