How are community colleges paying for guided pathways?

Higher Ed Dive

Natalie Schwartz

December 22, 2020

New research found the amounts can be steep, but schools implementing the promising model have shifted budgets and secured new funding.

Bill Seymour, the president of Cleveland State Community College, is a big proponent of an emerging educational model for two-year schools that’s meant to improve student outcomes. Called guided pathways, the approach uses intensive advising and highly structured programs to help students complete their studies without taking unnecessary courses or falling off track.

The approach is working for the Tennessee school, whose fall-to-fall retention rate has improved 8.5% since it was selected by the American Association of Community Colleges to pioneer the model in 2015.

But guided pathways can be an expensive undertaking. Often, schools have to find additional funding or shift their resources to hire more advisers and better track students.

CONTINUE READING