Community College Review Protocol

The objective of this systematic review is to determine the quality of existing causal evidence on the effectiveness of community college policies and programs to improve academic persistence and degree/certificate completion and labor market outcomes.

The review focuses on programs based at community colleges, which are public, two-year postsecondary institutions that account for approximately one-quarter of all higher education institutions. 

This topic area currently includes research with causal analyses but could later be expanded to include research that describes lessons learned from the implementation of community college programs. The Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research (CLEAR) reviewers assess the quality of causal evidence presented in studies with causal designs.