ABSTRACT This article celebrates the accomplishments of the Community College Journal of Research and Practice (CCJRP) throughout 2025 – a year that concludes as the journal reaches a significant milestone and enters its 50th year of publication. Over the past five decades, the CCJRP has served as a leading platform for advancing research and practice in the community college sector, marking milestones of scholarly growth while building momentum that continues to shape the field. This article highlights the impactful studies, featured articles, and special issues that have strengthened the journal’s reputation for both scholarly rigor and practitioner relevance. It also acknowledges the essential contributions of our editorial board members, authors, and editors, whose commitment to inquiry and innovation sustains the journal’s enduring influence. Looking ahead, this article previews issues planned for 2026, including a special issue honoring the legacy of a distinguished community college scholar–practitioner, as well as forthcoming issues focused on workforce education, student pathways and success, social media and technology, COVID-19 impacts, STEM programs, and other emerging topics vital to community colleges and higher education. Together, these efforts commemorate 50 years of publishing excellence while reaffirming the CCJRP’s mission to elevate research, inform practice, and shape the future of community college education – carrying the momentum of past milestones forward into the decades to come.

ABSTRACT Increasingly, non-degree credentialing (NDC) programs are provided to advance the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce via flexible opportunities to build the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed for employment in today’s technical workforce. To understand how NDC programs are designed and implemented and with what outcomes, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) to identify and synthesize empirical literature related to STEM workforce development through NDC programs. Working with a research librarian, we developed keywords and database-specific search terms for four robust databases: Education Source, ERIC, Scopus, and IEEE. Using the documented SLR processes, we exhaustively searched for and identified 27 empirical articles for review. During data extraction, we gathered and categorized basic descriptive information, including publication timelines and trends, research designs, and participant demographics. Finally, we employed qualitative content analysis to assess research quality and thematic analysis to synthesize research findings. Results indicate that NDC programs have emerged as an area of STEM education and workforce development research during the past 10 years. Specifically, NDC programs are implemented through a variety of formats and models that emphasize experiential learning, technical and durable skill development, and inclusive access. Results suggest that NDC programs have the potential to enhance STEM workforce readiness, support career advancement, improve job outcomes, and help address access disparities through flexible learning models, community college partnerships, and work-based learning opportunities. Collectively, the implications of this review suggest that NDC programs can be implemented across a variety of contexts to cultivate an accessible and responsive STEM workforce ecosystem.

ABSTRACT This study explores students’ first-year writing (FYW) investment, following translingual curriculum assignments in a FYW course at a community college. We respond to calls for research on equitable FYW instruction for community college students and for more practical implementations of translingual orientation, which foregrounds how student writers manage, negotiate, and reshape academic writing norms. Specifically, we examine how translingual curriculum assignments leveraged students’ existing language and literacy practices as valuable and legitimate resources for academic writing. Using deductive and inductive approaches to qualitative analysis, we explore the ways in which students’ writing is reflective of their FYW investment, at the intersection of identity, capital, and ideology. We argue that the translingual curriculum introduced in a FYW community college course positively shapes all students’ investment by mediating the development of writing identities rooted in their out-of-school linguistic practices. This study pushes us to consider the benefits of investment and translingual orientation for all community college students, notwithstanding their language backgrounds, and translingual curricular approaches that support student engagement, development, and identity. It ends with several implications for research and practical recommendations for community college FYW instructors and curriculum developers.

ABSTRACT This paper explores the role of policy silences in post-secondary articulation agreements between community college systems and public four-year systems in states with the highest number of rural-serving institutions. Using policy discourse analysis (PDA), the study examines the discourses in the articulation agreements of four rural-serving post-secondary educational systems. The findings suggest that articulation agreements frame community college students in two different and conflicting ways – as a “Navigator” and as a “Deficient Student.” The contrast between these framings highlights how community colleges expect students to navigate the transfer process, while four-year institutions deem community colleges to be academically deficient. This study explores how these subject positions influence the transfer process and intersect with the overarching theme of academic deficiency. These gaps in policy discourse illuminate broader equity issues, particularly for minoritized and rural community college transfer students.

ABSTRACT This study applied Random Forest machine learning to identify predictors of success in gateway English and algebra courses across Wyoming community colleges. High school GPA (HSGPA) consistently emerged as the strongest predictor, while ACT scores added modest incremental value. Gender was relevant in English, with male students at higher risk of underperformance, whereas race and non-traditional status showed limited predictive weight. Nonlinear effects for years since high school suggest that time away from school may influence certain learners. Findings support streamlined placement policies anchored in HSGPA, supplemented by ACT scores when appropriate, and targeted supports for male students in English. This multi-institutional analysis demonstrates how machine learning can clarify predictive patterns in rural community college contexts, informing equitable, data-driven placement strategies that balance simplicity, accuracy, and flexibility for diverse learners.

ABSTRACT This study employs a multi-method approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative analyses to examine factors influencing student attrition at a community college in Trinidad and Tobago. Findings from the multilevel binary logistic regression model highlight a strong inverse relationship between GPA and attrition risk after adjusting for other variables in the model. This relationship varied significantly across the different academic programs. Additionally, being enrolled part-time, being older and being male were each associated with higher odds of withdrawal, controlling for the other covariates. Qualitative insights further contextualized these trends, with students’ frequently citing challenges related to program structure, institutional support, job conflicts, family obligations and financial constraints as key factors influencing their decision to withdraw. Based on these findings, early intervention programs, enhancedacademic advising, flexible course delivery, expanded financial aid, and targeted support forhigh-risk demographics are recommended for improving student retention. Leveraging a similardata-driven framework can help tertiary institutions proactively identify at-risk students and develop strategic, evidence-based retention initiatives that foster academic persistence and long-term student success.

ABSTRACT Community colleges were among the hardest hit sectors of higher education during the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant challenges have had lasting repercussions for students, faculty, and institutions. This exploratory study surveyed 320 community college faculty across six of the seven community colleges that make up the City University of New York (CUNY) in order to understand faculty perceptions of changes and challenges in community college education post-pandemic. Findings indicate that an overwhelming majority of survey respondents believe that there have been major changes in the community colleges where they teach since the pandemic and that these changes have either been largely negative or mixed. A majority of respondents identified students’ lack of academic preparation and academic disengagement as among the most significant changes and primary challenges facing their students post-pandemic. Respondents reported that students face greater external constraints, such as full-time employment, family responsibilities, and financial need, in their pursuit of a degree since the pandemic and that these challenges are exacerbated by the institutional push for full-time enrollment. Further, the findings reveal a perception of lack of administration support for faculty and an increase in transactional views of community college education. The study indicates a need for further research on challenges in community college education since the pandemic including the impact of online education on student learning and the campus community, the implications of AI tools on student learning, and which pedagogical practices, and college-level policies, genuinely foster student engagement and academic preparation in the post-pandemic era.

ABSTRACT This qualitative critical narrative inquiry examined the challenges community college students in the U.S. experiencing food insecurity face and how institutional leaders can be responsive in providing supports to these students. Participants included 12 community college students drawn from across the United States; each completed a demographic survey and semi-structured interview. Using Strange and Banning’s four models of human environments framework, findings illuminate the strategies individuals leveraged in navigating financial hardships and food aid resources, the challenges that proximity to campus posed, and how interpersonal connections and societal stigmas played a role in their use of food aid and other resources. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

ABSTRACT Political science faculty members have increasingly used simulations to promote civic engagement. However, the use of political simulations with community college students has not been studied as extensively as it has with their four-year counterparts. Through the interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) methodology, this study examined the experiences of nine political science educators to understand how they use simulations with community college students and what challenges they navigate. Iterative qualitative coding cycles resulted in group experiential themes expressing both convergent and divergent experiences. Participants described using simulations as constructive social interactions; as comprehensive learning experiences integrating preparation, facilitation of perspective taking, debriefing, and assessment; and as vehicles for civic empowerment, providing students with opportunities to experiment, exercise power and responsibility, and engage with local government. Simulations present curricular, ideological, and practical challenges for faculty members to navigate within their institutions and larger communities.

ABSTRACT Advancements in computer technology have revolutionized extended reality (XR) experiences, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and 360° photography and videography. These technologies have found widespread adoption in various educational contexts, from K-12 schools to universities. However, community and technical colleges in the United States have been slower to adopt these innovative instructional modalities. This study was conducted in two phases to investigate factors influencing the adoption of XR technologies at two-year institutions. In the first phase, Advanced Technician Education (ATE) program participants were surveyed (n = 44) on barriers to adoption of XR at two-year institutions. In the second phase, participants from two-year colleges (n = 18) were interviewed guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to identify their perceptions and the challenges faced in implementing XR-enabled instruction. Most survey respondents (20.5%) reported a lack of XR knowledge as a reason for not integrating XR into their curricula, followed by the cost of XR hardware and content (10.3%). Lack of knowledge about XR was rated as a “moderate” barrier and hardware and content costs were both rated as “significant” barriers for XR implementation. The qualitative findings identified enhanced visualization, experiential learning, high student engagement, and institutional support for technology implementation as facilitators to XR adoption. In contrast, limited availability of XR educational content, restricted development opportunities of XR content, integration challenges of XR technologies with existing learning management systems, resource constraints, and training needs of educators were reported as hindering the implementation of XR technologies at two-year colleges.