Learn how community colleges are innovating to support every student

By empowering learners, transforming higher ed and strengthening local economies, community colleges are driving change where it matters most

We all know that community colleges play a critical role in bridging educational and career gaps — and today, their leadership is more vital than ever. These institutions offer affordable, workforce-aligned education to millions of learners each year, while supporting some of the most diverse and non-traditional student populations in higher ed. From Pell Grant recipients and first-generation students to adult learners, military veterans, student-parents and career-changers, community colleges are helping learners from all walks of life access new opportunities and brighter futures.

Like everyone in higher ed, community colleges are also facing the unique challenges of an unknowable future and great uncertainty about federal funding and resources. Early signs suggest that workforce development and career pathways — long a pillar of community colleges — will continue to be prioritized. But because community colleges serve multiple, ever-evolving learner populations, they must keep adapting to ensure they’re meeting the needs of all their students. To celebrate community college innovation and transformation during Community College Month, we’re shining a spotlight on what some of our community college partners are doing to ensure all their students thrive.

‍

‍

1.   Tailoring student support to include diverse learner populations

Over the years, many community colleges have been evolving their strategies to provide personalized, flexible support for a broad range of students, tailoring services to meet these students where they are. Now more than ever, it’s crucial that community colleges are committed to ensuring accessible learning and opportunity for all students.

To accommodate the unique needs of their many student populations, community colleges across the nation have had to be flexible and student-centered. Along with offering student success coaching — which provides tailored support to all learners — they have instituted several flexible, student-centric accommodations, such as:

• Extending advising hours and on-demand academic coaching to better fit the schedules of working students and student-parents
• Providing daycare support and on-campus family resources for student-parents
• Offering hybrid and fully online learning pathways with asynchronous and flexible attendance options for greater accessibility and engagement
• Implementing shortened, compacted semesters that allow for an accelerated course completion timeline
• Creating specialized support programs for veterans, first-gen students and other underserved populations

‍

Waubonsee Community College (WCC), a Hispanic Serving Institution with four campuses in northeastern Illinois, offers a strong example of this approach. Focused on improving outcomes for all students — including their Latinx students, who comprise 41% of their student body — they used grant funding to strengthen cross-institutional support systems and enhance campus-wide student services. This included creating new programs and spaces that foster connection and belonging, along with shifting from walk-in advising to a case-management model to provide more personalized, proactive support. To ensure their efforts were sustainable, they partnered with InsideTrack to build internal coaching capacity and embed an evidence-based coaching methodology into their student support systems. The investment is paying off, as Waubonsee is now better equipped to support every student, especially those who benefit most from personalized guidance.

And the results speak for themselves. By embedding coaching into their student support strategy, Waubonsee saw a 10% overall increase in retention — with even greater gains among key student populations. Latinx student retention rose by more than 10%, underscoring the broad impact a more proactive, personalized approach can have on campus.

On a larger scale, NC Reconnect, a statewide re-enrollment initiative in North Carolina, is a powerful example of how institutions are innovating to support nontraditional learners — including adult learners, student-parents and full-time employees. In partnership with InsideTrack, 24 community colleges (and counting) are using holistic coaching to help students return to school, persist and succeed. Across the first four cohorts, more than 2,600 students re-enrolled, with 66–68% of students from cohorts one and two continuing into the next term. Coaching not only supports learners one-on-one — it also helps institutions identify and address systemic barriers, leading to long-term improvements. For participating colleges, this added up to an institutional return on investment of $4.6 million since 2021. By helping stopped-out students return to school and complete their degrees, NC Reconnect is not only transforming lives — it’s strengthening workforce development and fueling economic growth across the state.

‍

2.  Strengthening partnerships between community colleges and employers

Deeply embedded in their local economies, community colleges have focused on building bridges between students and employers. At a time when the value of education is being challenged, the critical ability of community colleges to directly connect student support and coursework to employability is more important than ever. Some of the ways that these schools are connecting students and employers include:

• Equipping high school staff with coaching skills to help students build career readiness early on
• Creating dual enrollment programs and early college experiences to strengthen high school-to-college pipelines
• Providing Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways, paid internships, registered apprenticeships and hands-on workforce training to prepare students for real-world employment opportunities
• Working with local workforce development organizations and agencies to help individuals upskill, reskill and gain access to more possibilities

‍

Community colleges play a vital role in connecting a diverse mosaic of learners to the workforce, forging pathways that lead students to real career and workforce opportunities. This starts with aligning their degree and credential programs with industry-recognized workforce skills. Schools accomplish this by partnering with local employers to co-design curricula and skills training that meet emerging industry demands. As a result, community college programs deliver industry-recognized certifications, stackable credentials and career-ready technical training that lead to high-demand, higher-wage careers.

North Central Texas College (NCTC) is a great example of a community college working to strengthen career readiness and long-term skill development — from high school through community college and onto employment. As part of their student-first  transformation, NCTC embedded coaching skills across campus and extended them to employers, workforce agencies and even local high schools. As a result, rural high school students in their area now have access to coaching that can start them on the path to a desired career. Local businesses are also working with NCTC to enhance employment opportunities for graduates.

‍

3.  Ensuring student support departments have the resources and skills to enhance student success

To make certain that their students receive holistic, wraparound support across campus, at every touchpoint, some community colleges are restructuring their internal support. They’re getting all departments on the same page by embedding student coaching models that use the same student-first approach. Cross-training faculty, staff and advisors institution-wide means every student will receive consistent guidance and support regardless of which office they visit — and it makes their meetings more effective. Ultimately, creating cross-departmental student success teams that provide holistic support will help all their students achieve academic and career goals. 

Another reason institutions are committed to overhauling student success efforts is to better understand and address the real barriers their students face. To provide comprehensive support that considers both academic and non-academic needs, many schools are embedding coaching programs that bring departments together and take a holistic, healing-centered approach. This kind of transformation allows faculty, advisors and support staff to work in unison, guiding students more effectively while meeting them where they are. Some of the ways community colleges are embedding holistic, student-centered support across campus include:

• Investing in evidence-based coaching methodologies to guide meaningful, student-first engagement
• Training cross-departmental teams — including faculty, financial aid and advising staff — to use a shared coaching framework
• Prioritizing trauma-informed, healing-centered engagement practices to support the whole student
• Building internal coaching capacity to sustain long-term impact and cultural transformation

‍

One institution that embarked on a student-first, campus-wide support services transformation is Austin Community College (ACC), the sixth largest community college in the nation. To provide wraparound support for their students, ACC has built an expansive in-house coaching team. After undergoing coach training and certification and implementing a train-the-trainer model with InsideTrack, the ACC coaching team has since trained 125+ of their own coaches. “It’s part of our culture now that we coach,” says Hilda Gartzke, coordinator of student affairs training at the school. “We try to model it with everything we do.” With that mindset, it’s easy to see how more than 35,000 ACC students now benefit from the impact of coaching every year. 

Similarly, Illinois Central College (ICC) is a community college committed to supporting students through holistic, human-centered advising. To better understand the barriers their learners face, ICC conducted student surveys — then used those insights to inform a multi-year partnership with InsideTrack. Together, they launched a retention coaching pilot and trained ICC’s advising team in coaching methodology, embedding a more student-centered approach across their support services — laying the groundwork for long-term student success.

The impact has been substantial. Coached students saw an 18% higher retention rate compared to their peers — with part-time students seeing a 23% increase and African American students a 33% increase. Student satisfaction rose as well, with advising sessions rated 9.4 percentage points higher and overall impressions of advising up 14.7 percentage points just one year after the redesign. ICC’s commitment to coaching is helping them reimagine student support from the ground up — and it’s working.

‍

Creating inclusive, career-connected pathways for today’s learners

These institutions are proving what’s possible in student success innovation — making education more tailored, inclusive and aligned with real-world careers. We’re proud to partner with institutions that meet students where they are and adapt to evolving workforce needs. Day by day, they’re reshaping higher education.

As we celebrate Community College Month, we honor the dedication of our community college partners and their unwavering commitment to expanding access and opportunity for learners of all backgrounds, at every stage of their journey.