How to Improve College Completion Rates for Underserved Students: A Conversation with Emily Dow and Elena Serna-Wallender

Postsecondary education is a crucial factor in achieving economic mobility. However, graduation rates at community colleges remain low , particularly for students from low-income famil ies . One effort to help students graduate and succeed in the workforc e is MDRC's Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS ) , a comprehensive student support program supported by 15 years of MDRC's postsecondary research . Through its Expanding SUCCESS Ini tiative, MDRC is partn ering wit h states and districts to scale the SUCCESS program to new locations and campuses In this episode, Leigh Parise talks with Elena Serna-Wallender, Senior Evidence to Practice Associate at MDRC, and Emily Dow, Assistant Secretary of Academic Affairs at the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) . They discuss how MHEC and MDRC are working together to support institutions implementing these supports in Maryland.

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How to Improve College Completion Rates for Underserved Students: A Conversation with Emily Dow and Elena Serna-Wallender is an episode from Evidence First by MDRC.

This episode is 17:16 long.

This episode was published on Apr 7, 2025.

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