Eliminating Barriers to Student Decision-Making Improves Outcomes

Students who encounter bureaucratic hurdles or are overwhelmed with too much information may make decisions that are not in their best interest. Reforms at community colleges that involve either radical organizational change or smaller-scale changes such as intensive advising, technological simplification, learning communities, program coherence, and constrained curricula have been found to have positive impacts on student outcomes including completion rates, achievement levels, and self-reported quality of experience.

Source: Judith Scott-Clayton, The Structure of Student Decision-Making at Community Colleges, Community College Research Center, January 2011.