UCLA

California community colleges are undergoing massive systemwide policy reform with the goal of transformational change that increases student success. Their open-access nature makes them the most accessible higher education system for historically underserved communities. As a result, community colleges serve as a gateway to higher education for low-income Latina/o/x and Black/African American students, yet most students never complete. Currently, there is a lack of empirical research that analyzes community colleges as a system through the lived experiences of low-income Latina/o/x and Black/African American students. Therefore, a phenomenological qualitative research design was used in this study to elevate marginalized student voices. The study focused on learning about the challenges students experienced as they navigated the community college, the support they found to be most beneficial in helping them achieve their educational goals, and the recommendations they made to improve student support. Findings suggest that the college system lacked an integrated, student-centered design, resulting in inconsistent support. The burden of responsibility fell on the student to figure out how to braid resources to create a roadmap to completion. Students overcame systemic challenges by relying on navigational, social, familial, and resistance capital to achieve their educational goals. The most helpful supports identified were knowledgeable, caring, and culturally engaging institutional agents and peer networks that made students feel welcomed and connected. Students recommended proactive efforts to increase awareness about college processes and resources that make them feel supported. The most frequently offered recommendations included having accessible and knowledgeable counselors, intentional messaging, connections to support programs, and financial aid. The study concludes with recommendations for adopting a student-centered design through equitable practices where community college practitioners take individual and institutional responsibility for student success.