More Essential Than Ever: Community College Pathways to Educational and Career Success

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Davis Jenkins Hana Lahr

More Essential Than Ever

Community College Pathways to Educational and Career Success

Davis Jenkins, Hana Lahr, John Fink , Serena C. Klempin

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Paperback

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English

Harvard Educational Publishing Group
26 August 2025

Educational strategies & policy; Organisation & management of education; Higher & further education, tertiary education; Adult education, continuous learning

An evidence-based approach to community college transformation featuring innovative practices that strengthen offerings and foster student success

In More Essential Than Ever, researchers Davis Jenkins, Hana Lahr, John Fink, Serena C. Klempin, and Maggie P. Fay center US community colleges as critical to upward mobility and workforce development in their communities, highlighting new practices these institutions are using to build high-quality programs and support students’ educational and career success.

Drawing on a decade of research on whole-college guided pathways reforms at more than 100 community colleges nationally, they illustrate how colleges have implemented large-scale changes to help students better navigate the journey to completion. They argue, however, that to achieve better and more equitable outcomes—and to recruit and retain more students in a highly competitive market—colleges must not only remove barriers to completion but also strengthen pathways to student goals after graduation, thus making their investment of money, time, and effort worth it.

The book provides compelling case studies of how colleges are achieving this along five frontiers: strengthening program career and baccalaureate transfer outcomes, teaching students to be versatile learners, strengthening recruitment and onboarding, ensuring students complete in as little time and at as low a cost as possible, and building on-ramps to high-opportunity postsecondary pathways from high school. The book also gives practical guidance for college leaders on managing and funding these innovations and for state policymakers on encouraging and supporting them.

By: Davis Jenkins, Hana Lahr, John Fink, Serena C. Klempin, Maggie P. Fay
Imprint: Harvard Educational Publishing Group
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781682539910
ISBN 10: 1682539911
Pages: 248
Publication Date: 26 August 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Davis Jenkins is a senior research scholar at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University, and a research professor in education and social policy analysis at Teachers College. He is the coauthor of Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success, which helped to catalyze the national guided pathways community college reform movement. Hana Lahr is assistant director of research and director of applied learning, John Fink is a senior research associate and program lead, Serena C. Klempin is a research associate, and Maggie P. Fay is a senior research associate, all at the Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Reviews for More Essential Than Ever: Community College Pathways to Educational and Career Success

""More Essential Than Ever is exactly what is needed for practitioners at this moment in the evolving student success movement. Recognizing the challenges in whole college transformation and citing important lessons from researching a decade of guided pathways implementation in practice, the authors advance five important next frontiers for community college reform, refining their original framing of guided pathways, and setting the stage for an important 'redesign of our redesign.' Most importantly, in my view, the book offers as one of the five frontiers, a long overdue call to action to reimagine innovation in teaching and learning as a key student success strategy.""--Karen Stout, president and CEO, Achieving the Dream ""Community colleges are essential to social mobility and economic opportunity in the United States, but we must move the needle on completion rates at these institutions. More Essential Than Ever outlines proven, data-backed strategies for community colleges to remove systemic barriers standing between students and degrees of value.""--Yolanda Watson Spiva, president, Complete College America ""This book presents impressive research and actionable strategies to help community colleges ensure that their programs of study and completion reforms are aligned with bachelor's degree pathways and good jobs. It also makes a compelling case that such alignment will not only benefit students but be essential for community colleges to thrive in the future.""--Josh Wyner, founder and executive director, Aspen Institute College Excellence Program