Community College Access, Mission, and Outcomes: Considering Intriguing Intersections and Challenges

Abstract

Since their inception, community colleges have carried out a number of complex and often competing programs or foci. The transfer, vocational, developmental, and continuing and community service foci have become increasingly important as the mission of community colleges has evolved. During their early history, operating primarily as transfer institutions, the student population of junior colleges was not especially diverse-traditional age, male, White, college-bound students filled most classrooms. As times passed and as enrollments grew, community colleges became increasingly diverse in the students they serve and in their purposes for being. Today, community colleges fulfill a multiplicity of roles within their communities, offering a myriad of educational programs and services with a broad and sometimes contradictory set of intended outcomes. This article summarizes pertinent literature related to community college access, mission, and outcomes, exploring the complex intersections between these important constructs. It concludes that meeting the needs and goals of students should be paramount in conceptualizing outcomes, otherwise community colleges will continue to be criticized by populists who observe that they are not reaching enough students and elitists who believe they do not meet traditional outcomes linked to educational and economic attainment.