As scrutiny of higher education intensifies, colleges and universities of all sizes are working overtime to better understand their successes and failures. The scrutiny is coming from many quarters and community colleges in particular are feeling the pressure: They now educate about 45 percent of undergraduates nationwide, and are being asked to bolster their local economies while equipping a growing number of academically at-risk students with the tools to succeed in the global economy.

In response, numerous two-year colleges have rolled out new student-support services and community-outreach efforts in recent years. Steps that five colleges have taken to produce better results for their students and their communities are outlined in this report. One of the colleges is Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport.
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education