Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

California Community Colleges (CCCs) serve 2.1 million students at 115 institutions. A substantial number of students are underrepresented. Low-income students at the CCCs struggle to cover the full cost of college. A study by the Institute for College Access and Success found that when examining the net price of attending these colleges, low-income students pay more to attend CCCs than the other public universities in California. The College Promise program was created as a response to address the problems of low completion rates among CCC students, college unaffordability, and other system-wide concerns. Through this research project, our team is conducting administrator interviews, producing findings from a comprehensive literature review, and analyzing student-level and community-college level data to identify which College Promise program practices and structures increase student preparedness for community college and community college attendance for underrepresented groups.