By Laura Arnold

Juliette Pacheco was a young mother of three when she first stepped onto SUNY Westchester Community College’s campus. A first-generation college student, Juliette quickly felt nervous about her ability to keep up with her coursework while juggling a job, childcare, and the everyday challenges of living in New York. A sick babysitter or a delayed train could be the difference between attending class or falling behind. It didn’t take long before she seriously worried that she wouldn’t make it to graduation day — and with good reason: A staggering 70% of U.S. students who attend two-year community colleges don’t finish with a degree.

That statistic should alarm all of us. While elite universities tend to dominate the headlines, it’s community colleges that serve as a critical foundation of American higher education, enrolling more than 40% of all undergraduates. When nearly three out of four of those students leave without a diploma, we’re not just witnessing individual dreams denied — we’re witnessing systemic failure. And we need to take a hard look at why, especially when Hispanic students like Juliette make up 30% of community college enrollees.

It’s a stubborn challenge — but some schools have found inventive ways to tackle it head-on.

The City University of New York (CUNY) system, for example, had long struggled to get students to a successful graduation day. Twenty years ago, the three-year graduation rate for the CUNY system hovered around just 13%, significantly lower than other urban community college systems. So they decided to do something about it.

In 2007, CUNY instituted the Accelerated Studies in Academic Programs (ASAP) to help at-risk students stay on track. The program provides a broad range of wraparound services — everything from additional advisory support to tutoring to transportation benefits to subsidies for textbooks. This extra support, it turns out, goes a long way: Nonprofit research organization MDRC found that 40% of ASAP students made it to graduation day, compared to just 22% of the rest of the student body. Even more impressive? Six years post-graduation, ASAP alumni earned 11% more than those who didn’t receive such support….

…. At Arnold Ventures, we’re working to replicate CUNY ASAP’s success at community colleges across the country. In Colorado, we’ve partnered with Governor Jared Polis to implement similar programs at Lamar Community College and Colorado Mountain College. In North Carolina, we’re working with the entire community college system to build out ASAP programs statewide — a national first. Each program is tailored to meet the student population’s particular needs: Where CUNY may offer MTA cards, Colorado may offer monthly $50 vouchers for gas and groceries….

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