R E P O R T B R I E F

EVALUATION: SINGLE STOP 

COMMUNITY COLLEGE INITIATIVE

COMMUNITY CHALLENGE

Completion rates of community college students are low, with fewer 

than one-third of students graduating or transferring within three years. 

Community colleges are searching for ways to better support their 

students and improve success rates, but are often ill-equipped to deal 

with the range of nonacademic barriers to college completion that their 

student populations face, such as transportation or child care.

PROMISING SOLUTION

Single Stop’s Community College Initiative assists college students with 

applications for public benefit programs and other wraparound services

at no cost, including screenings and applications for public benefit 

programs; tax services, financial counseling, and legal services; and case 

management with referrals to a wide variety of resources and support 

programs. Through on-campus offices Single Stop is available to all 

students at an institution.

At-a-Glance

CNCS Program: Social Innovation Fund

Intervention: Single Stop Community 

College Initiative

Subgrantee: Single Stop

Intermediary: New Profit

Focus Area: Youth Development

Communites Studied: Bunker Hill 

Community College (MA), City University 

of New York (NY), Delgado Community 

College (LA), and Miami Dade College

(FL)

Study Design: QED - Coarsened Exact 

Matching (CEM) 

Evaluator: RAND Education

Level of Evidence Achieved: Moderate

Corporation for National & Community Service 

Office of Research & Evaluation 

December 2017
EVALUATION OF THE SINGLE STOP COMMUNITY COLLEGE INITIATIVE  2

EVALUATION DESIGN

RAND Education conducted an independent evaluation of the Single 

Stop program at four community college systems: Bunker Hill 

Community College (MA), City University of New York (NY), Delgado 

Community College (LA), and Miami Dade College (FL), focusing on 

first-time-in-college students in fall 2014. The impact evaluation assesses 

an approach to student support and its impact on students’ 

postsecondary outcomes. 

EVALUATION RESULTS

 Single Stop use was associated with an increase in college 

persistence of at least 3 percentage points.

 Single Stop users attempted more credits than comparable 

students who did not use Single Stop.

 Use of Single Stop’s tax assistance services was associated 

with particularly positive outcomes in terms of persistence 

and credits earned.

 Findings were particularly positive for Single Stop users 

who were adult learners (age 25 and older), independent 

students, and nonwhite students.

 Single Stop use was associated with improved 

postsecondary outcomes at all but one of the institutions in 

the study.

USING FINDINGS FOR IMPROVEMENT

More research is needed to understand the program’s mechanisms, 

how students are using various services, and why the program 

might be effective. However, if programs such as Single Stop work 

collaboratively with government, institutions, and community 

organizations to improve access to public benefits and other support 

resources, college students will have the support needed to overcome 

the barriers to collegiate success. It would also be useful to understand 

more about what the program delivers in terms of financial value to 

students. Future analysis that includes government data on the 

recipients of public benefits would provide more reliable evidence on 

the value of Single Stop services in terms of benefits delivered. Finally, it 

would be valuable to understand more about how implementation and 

context are related to outcomes.

Full report and methodology: 

nationalservice.gov/research

The mission of the Corporation for 

National and Community Service 

(CNCS) is to improve lives, 

strengthen communities, and foster 

civic engagement through service 

and volunteering.

The content of this brief was drawn from the full evaluation report submitted to CNCS by the grantee/subgrantee. The section of the brief that discusses 

evaluation use includes contribution of the grantee/subgrantee. All original content from the report is attributable to its authors. 

To access the full evaluation report and learn more about CNCS, please visit nationalservice.gov/research.

The Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), combines public and private resources to grow the 

impact of innovative, community-based solutions that have compelling evidence of improving the lives of people in low-income communities throughout the 

U.S. The SIF invests in three priority areas: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development.