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Saving the College Dream

Abbey Crain/Reckon for AL.com

Community colleges are in trouble. Their enrollment has fallen by 37% since 2010, and nearly half of students drop out within a year. Scant advising, labyrinthian financial aid, and unclear career pathways are among the challenges facing the two-year schools and their students. Seven newsrooms joined together to explore the crisis facing these institutions, and ways to solve it. The series is a collaboration between AL.com, The Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Hechinger Report, The Seattle Times, and The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina, with support from the Solutions Journalism Network.

‘The reckoning is here’: Where have community college students gone?

Two Alabama community colleges are taking a new approach to advising

The SENSE program, now in its third year, aims to solve a problem that impacts community colleges across the country, as well as in Alabama: poor completion rates. (Photo: Rebecca Griesbach/AL.com)

Why many students are choosing trade programs over college

These community college classes offer two teachers – and a path to success

Why is it so hard to transfer community college credits?

How success coaches ‘dig a little deeper’ to anticipate and tackle Dallas College students

Success coaches, a more hands-on approach to advising, are Dallas College’s latest effort to demystify the process of obtaining a degree and help its students overcome obstacles along the way. (Photo: Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News)

16 weeks to a new job: Can certificate programs be game changers?