Stewards of Opportunity: America’s Public Community Colleges

Abstract

America's public community colleges enroll almost half of all undergraduates in higher education's public sector.1 Universally perceived as the first way station on the road to social mobility, they are at the leading edge of educational opportunity. Millions of Americans and hundreds of communities benefit from their convenient locations, wide range of programs, and open admission policies. What are these community colleges? For many people, including more than a few in academe, they are terra incognita. The most impressive fact about them is their magnitude: some 1,036 publicly supported community colleges enroll over 5.3 million students. Equally impressive, although less obvious, is their diversity, a diversity so great that it defies almost any attempt at generalization. But typically?although there is no typical community college?the community colleges are two-year schools with three primary missions: 1) general education equiva lent to the freshman and sophomore years at a four-year college or university; 2) vocational and occupational training; and 3) com munity service. Over time, and across and within states, these colleges vary widely in the emphasis given to each of these mis sions. Nevertheless, the faculty commitment to teaching is strong and pervasive, whether it be English 101, computer technology in vocational training, or conversational French for footloose subur banites. Although their origins are in the early years of the twentieth century, today's public community colleges are products of post World War II America. Only after about 1960 did they become the