Postsecondary State Policy Network

Advancing State Policy to Accelerate Community College Student Success

The Postsecondary State Policy Network, led by Jobs for the Future, is a multistate collaboration committed to advancing state policies that accelerate community college student success and completion. The network evolved out of the policy efforts for the Achieving the Dream National Reform Network, including the Developmental Education Initiative. The network includes 11 states that are continuing their work with support from Achieving the Dream and the Completion by Design and Student Success Center initiatives. JFF helps teams from the network states maximize peer learning and develop and implement policies that promote community college student success.

States participate in the Postsecondary State Policy Network through the following initiatives and supporters:

• Achieving the Dream, Inc.: Community college systems in five states with strong Achieving the Dream college participation have the opportunity to learn and share with their peers in the service of strengthening state-level action to drive and accelerate student success and completion. Participating states are: Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Virginia.
• Completion by Design, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: JFF works with community college associations and state systems in three states to significantly increase completion and graduation rates for low-income students under 26. JFF helps state teams identify and implement policies that support college efforts to provide needed structure for the student experience, from initial connection to college through completion or transfer. Participating states are: Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio.
• Student Success Center Network, supported by the Kresge Foundation: JFF supports new and emerging state-level Student Success Centers that organize a state’s community colleges around common action to improve persistence and completion. Participating states are: Arkansas, Michigan, Ohio, and Texas.

For more information, please contact Michael Collins at mcollins@jff.org.

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