Policy Change
Achieving the Dream’s state policy work focuses on:
- Developing a visible public policy commitment to student access and success
- Strengthening state data systems and their use to make student outcomes more transparent and facilitate higher performance
- Aligning community college academic expectations with those of secondary systems and four-year higher education institutions
- Providing incentives for improved services for academically underprepared students
- Expanding funding incentives and financial aid policies that increase persistence
Public policy is a powerful force that can either help or hinder the efforts of community colleges working to increase rates of success for students. As more students earn post-secondary credentials within a given community, they are prepared to contribute more highly-valued skills and participate in building a strong and stable economy. With 6.7 million students enrolled in the nation’s 1,200 community colleges, there is a powerful incentive for lawmakers at every level to facilitate their success. Achieving the Dream is showing that once legislators and policymakers understand this dynamic, they become our partners in implementing well-informed, far-reaching policy changes.
Since 2004, Jobs for the Future has led the state-policy and capacity-building efforts for Achieving the Dream, working closely with policymakers in 15 states. The goal is to align state policy with lessons from community colleges working to improve student progress and completion, so that promising practices and processes are adopted and sustained statewide.
