Equalizing Access to Research Experiences: How Three Community Colleges Beat the Odds to Build Large, Successful, and Sustainable Undergraduate Research Programs

A raft of research has affirmed the efficacy of undergraduate research (UR) as a best practice for improving student outcomes at community colleges. Yet in spite of these impressive outcomes, UR remains rare at community colleges. A small number of institutions, however, have implemented UR successfully, although few studies have examined how and why these programs have become so successful. This qualitative multiple case study explored the implementation processes of successful UR programs at three geographically diverse community colleges. Findings indicated that these three institutions sustained their UR programs through faculty-led administration, support from system-level administrators, and cost-containment strategies specific to the community college context.