College Profiles

Community College of Philadelphia

Background

 

Community College of Philadelphia is the largest institution of higher education in Philadelphia and is the largest single point of entry into higher education for minorities in Pennsylvania. Approximately 37,000 students are enrolled in credit and non-credit classes. In terms of ethnicity and race, 51 percent of students are African American, 26 percent are white, 15 percent are Latino and 8 percent are Asian. The majority of full-time students (65 percent) and part-time students (52 percent) receive some form of financial aid. In addition, the majority of students that come to the college are not ready for college-level studies. Approximately half of entering students need developmental English, mathematics, and/or reading courses.

 

Achieving the Dream Goals

 

Achieving the Dream funding will serve as a catalyst for change for the college through the use of data-driven self-assessment, capacity building, and rethinking the ways in which the college operates. The project will be institutionwide in scope, as data will be collected on students at the college’s main campus and three regional centers. The identified priorities are to:

 

• Improve student outcomes through strengthened student support systems, including the Comprehensive Orientation Program and Early Alert/Intervention System; and
• Improve student outcomes by increasing use of effective educational practices, specifically Faculty Professional Development and the Math Initiative.

As data-driven intervention strategies are developed and implemented through Achieving the Dream, this information will be used to provide institutional benchmarks to assess the strategies’ effectiveness in improving student outcomes and eliminating gaps in student equity.

 

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