Community College Enrollment Research Articles

Intensity and Attachment

This study examines the relationship between community college enrollment patterns and student outcomes—credential completion and transfer to a 4-year institution—introducing a new way of visualizing the various attendance patterns of community college students. Patterns of enrollment intensity (full- or part-time status) and continuity (enrolling in consecutive terms or skipping one or more terms) are graphed and then clustered according to their salient features. Using data on cohorts of first-time community college students at five colleges in a single state, the study finds astounding variation in student enrollment patterns. Clustering these patterns reveals two relationships: the first is a positive association between enrollment continuity and earning a community college credential, and the second is a positive association between enrollment intensity and likelihood of transfer.

Community Colleges and Labor Market Conditions: How Does Enrollment Demand Change Relative to Local Unemployment Rates?

This study uses fixed-effects panel data techniques to estimate the elasticity of community college enrollment demand relative to local unemployment rates. The findings suggest that community college enrollment demand is counter-cyclical to changes in the labor market, as enrollments rise during periods of weak economic conditions. Using national data for the years 1990 through 2009, we find that a one percentage-point change in unemployment is associated with 1.1–3.3 % increases in enrollment demand. We disaggregate the analysis by total full-time and part-time enrollment, concluding that high levels of unemployment are also associated with greater demand for full-time attendance. Additionally, enrollments are slightly more responsive to unemployment in metropolitan (rather than micropolitan) areas. Informed by enrollment demand theory, our analysis provides an update to the “unemployment elasticity” literature and could aid in current enrollment planning, economic development, and public policy efforts to educate students on the margin between college and work.

Student Perceptions of Factors Contributing to Community-College-to-University Transfer Success

The transfer process includes areas such as academic preparation and advisement, transfer evaluation, financial aid, and psychosocial factors. A descriptive, exploratory method was employed to capture the perceptions of a transfer student cohort regarding their experiences in transitioning from lower division community college enrollment to upper-division, baccalaureate work. Using semistructured interviews within a focus group setting, and a follow-up survey, the study explored students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of their transfer experience. Three factors were identified as impediments to a successful transfer experience: (a) the quality of academic advisement, (b) access to financial aid, and (c) social and cultural issues.

Table of Contents

Abstract Cover Story Consider whether class‐based admissions should replace a race‐based system Consider ‘disadvantage’ in your wholistic admissions process Follow these tips for race‐blind admissions Learn how calculations work for disadvantage, overachievement Idea File Review report that notes drop in community college enrollment Help students achieve their goals with a degree‐completion program Offer students pathways to degrees by forming creative partnerships Provide stress‐relief activities to students during finals Special Report Learn where institutions place net price calculators Officials reveal reasoning behind easy access to calculators Compliance Understand changes to disclosing student information under new FERPA regulations Seek FERPA guidance from PTAC Managing Your Office Try 3 action‐directed strategies to address resistance to change in your unit What Would You Do? How can you reassure students worried about jobs? Lawsuits & Rulings ADMISSIONS Defective allegations keep claim out of federal court DISABILITY OCR finds fault with university's inaccessible website Leaders & Innovators CRAIG HELDMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, HOBSONS, INC. Challenging economy, competition make CRM a necessity Remember these strategies for effective CRM use

Modeling Engineering Degree Attainment Using High School and College Physics and Calculus Coursetaking and Achievement

BackgroundModels of engineering retention use high school GPA and mathematics standardized test scores to measure pre‐college characteristics and first year of college GPA to measure academic integration in college. This study uses high school and college physics and calculus coursetaking and achievement to predict engineering degree attainment among students on‐track for an engineering degree.Purpose (Hypothesis)This study predicts that high school accelerated physics and calculus coursetaking and grades influences grades earned in college physics and calculus and both sets of factors influence engineering degree attainment.Design/MscethodMultinomial logistic regression analyses determine the effects of high or low achievement in high school on high and low achievement in college physics and calculus courses and the effects of both on earning an engineering degree.ResultsPre‐college characteristics and academic integration were not consistently related to the destination of engineering migrants. Community college enrollment was not related to attrition. High school calculus achievement is the strongest predictor of grades in college physics and calculus courses, accounting for the positive effects of accelerated physics and calculus coursetaking.ConclusionsEngineering degree attainment models should include coursetaking and particularly achievement in high school and college physics and calculus courses. Attrition outcomes should include the destination major in order to capture achievement effects on migration to business and non‐STEM fields compared to migration to other STEM fields that require quantitative skills acquired in physics and calculus courses.

Geography and Hispanic Community College Enrollment

This study explored the relationship between Hispanic students' enrollment in community colleges and their geographic location. As the majority of Hispanics in the United States is concentrated in four states (New York, Texas, Florida, and California), this study looked into the effect of residence in one of these four states on community college enrollment. Controlling for academic, geographic, and background variables, bachelor's-aspiring Hispanic students were significantly more likely to enroll in a community college compared to White and Black students. Interestingly, this study found that Hispanic students who resided in New York, Texas, Florida, or California, were significantly more likely to enter the system of higher education through a four-year school and not a two-year school, when compared to White or Black students. The study suggests several explanations for the unique interaction of ethnicity and geography, including the higher availability of community colleges outside these four states. Together with the preference of Hispanic students to live at home while in college, this availability may be the most plausible explanation.

Community College Enrollment and the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis

Community College Enrollment and the 2007-2009 Financial Crisis

Crowded Colleges and College Crowd-Out: The Impact of Public Subsidies on the Two-Year College Market

This study assesses the impact of an increase in funding for public community colleges on the market for two-year college education, considering both the effect on community college enrollments and on the number of proprietary schools in a market. I draw on a new administrative dataset of for-profit colleges in California and votes on local community college bond referenda to implement a unique regression discontinuity design. The results suggest that bond passage diverts students from the private to the public sector and causes a corresponding decline in the number of proprietary schools in the market. (JEL H75, I22, I23)

Hispanic Origin, Socio-Economic Status, and Community College Enrollment

Hispanic Origin, Socio-Economic Status, and Community College Enrollment

Hispanic Origin, Socio-Economic Status, and Community College Enrollment

This study explores the relationship between parental SES, ethnicity, and college enrollment. Parental SES is found to translate into a significantly smaller advantage for Hispanics compared to Blacks and Whites. This statistical interaction suggests that high-SES Hispanics are at a unique disadvantage, most likely due to limited access to information about higher education.

Miles to go before I learn: The effect of travel distance on the mature person's choice of a community college

The substantial literature on access to higher education has a narrow focus: the effect of tuition on the enrollment decisions of 18-year-olds seeking bachelors degrees. But for non-traditional (i.e. older) students who tend to prefer community college, access is more about a school's location than about its tuition and fees. Using data on over 150,000 mature workers (aged 25 to 49) in the Greater Baltimore area, we analyze the impact of travel distance on community college enrollment decisions. We find that distance is a highly statistically significant factor in deciding whether to enroll in community college, and in which school to choose. Simulations of the model suggest that if the typical resident had to travel three additional miles from home to the nearest college, enrollment could drop by as much as 14%.

The effect of community college enrollment on bachelor's degree completion

Rouse [Rouse, C. E. (1995). Democratization or diversion—the effect of community-colleges on educational-attainment. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, 13(2), 217–224] finds that enrollment in a community college may divert students from attaining a bachelor's degree. However, this result may be due to selection bias, as the population of community college students should be quite different from those who attend 4-year institutions in terms of both observable and unobservable characteristics. This study uses propensity score matching to non-parametrically balance a data set from the 1996 Beginning Postsecondary Students survey in order to overcome issues associated with selection bias. Results from a Cox proportional hazards model indicate that attendance at a community college lowers the hazard rate for completing a bachelor's degree. The results are consistent with previous studies.

Methods for gauging the target populations that community colleges serve

For many community colleges, expanding enrollment demands coincide with shrinking resources, confronting policymakers with multiple competing constituencies of discouraged college-goers. At issue are whether community college enrollments are keeping pace with local growth among the subpopulations that typically attend community colleges; how enrollment levels might differ had participation rates remained unchanged; and which specific population groups, in which subareas of an overall region, are most affected by funding constraints. These issues focus attention on identifying and measuring the diverse populations such colleges serve. We present methods for tracking those populations (1) to gauge how completely (or incompletely) the local community college-going population is enrolling in various campuses, and (2) to delineate the functional service areas of individual campuses. Our methods have applicability to the needs of community college systems generally, especially where the size and geographic distribution of their populations are changing significantly through, for example, immigrant influx and regional expansion. These methods and measures add to the applied demographer’s repertoire of techniques for strengthening local decision-making.

Beginning with Literacy Needs: Community College Program Development that Considers Individual Students' Contexts

As community college enrollments continue to rise, the role of the college in the community expands to keep pace. Yet, academic programs designed to meet the needs of an ever more diverse population often lag behind. Traditionally, college has been a place for students to open doors to diverse ideas; here, students bring diversity with them, along with a rich mix of cultures and experiences, to the mutual advantage of fellow students and teachers. Despite the challenge of addressing individual student needs, a focus on a strong literacy component can lead to a successful overall college experience, particularly if individual literacy needs are considered in program design.

State Funding Limitations and Community College Open Door Policy: Conflicting Priorities?

Recent national budget shortfalls in the United States have caused many states to evaluate various ways to cut their budgets—including cutting education expenditures—while community college enrollments have continued to explode. The combination of these 2 factors threatens the traditional open door policy of public community colleges.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE ENROLLMENT AS A FUNCTION OF ECONOMIC INDICATORS

This study investigated the ability of national economic trends to predict enrollment in community colleges. Data from government documents and source books were used in a correlational analysis to explore the relationship between the national economy and enrollment in community colleges. The results indicated that Unemployment Rate, Gross Domestic Product, Dollars Disposable Income, and Personal Consumption Expenditures are good indicators of trends in community college enrollment. The Consumer Price Index and the Average Hourly Earnings of Production Workers were not significantly correlated to Total Enrollment or to Per Capita Community College Enrollment.

Community College Enrollment, College Major, and the Gender Wage Gap

The literature on the narrowing of the gender wage gap during the 1980s considers, among other factors, the closing of the male-female differential in post-secondary education. This paper looks specifically at the role played by the dramatic relative increase in women's enrollment in two-year colleges. With independent cross-sections developed using NLSY data, the authors find that the gender wage gap narrowed by 0.0469 log points between 1985 and 1990 and by 0.0932 log points between 1989 and 1994. The more pronounced decrease observed for 1989–94 is largely explained by erosion of male-female differences in weeks worked, job tenure, and full-time employment. A more novel finding is evidence that while change in the quantity of education provides essentially no explanatory power, disaggregating education by two-year and four-year providers and by major field of study accounts for 8.5–11% of the closing of the wage gap over the 1989–94 period.

Community College Enrollment, College Major, and the Gender Wage Gap

The literature on the narrowing of the gender wage gap during the 1980s considers, among other factors, the closing of the male-female differential in post-secondary education. This paper looks specifically at the role played by the dramatic relative increase in women's enrollment in two-year colleges. With independent cross-sections developed using NLSY data, the authors find that the gender wage gap narrowed by 0.0469 log points between 1985 and 1990 and by 0.0932 log points between 1989 and 1994. The more pronounced decrease observed for 1989-94 is largely explained by erosion of male-female differences in weeks worked, job tenure, and full-time employment. A more novel finding is evidence that while change in the quantity of education provides essentially no explanatory power, disaggregating education by two-year and four-year providers and by major field of study accounts for 8.5-11% of the closing of the wage gap over the 1989-94 period.

RATIONALES OF COMMUNITY COLLEGES FOR ENROLLING REVERSE TRANSFER STUDENTS: A SECOND CHANCE FOR WHOM?

Reverse transfer students, those students who matriculated at four-year colleges and then transferred to two-year colleges, have been enrolling in community colleges since at least the 1960s. Consisting of both undergraduate reverse transfers and post-baccalaureate reverse transfers (individuals who already have at least a bachelor s degree), these students represent at least 16 % of community college enrollments nation-wide. A concern about the admission of reverse transfers is that they may take enrollment spaces, particularly in selective programs, at the expense of potential students with no previous college experience and with weaker academic backgrounds. Analysis of documents written about reverse transfers indicates that their enrollment has been justified under a variety of rationales, including providing a second chance for these individuals in school and in the job market.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENTS AT PRIVATE LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGES

There is a plethora of studies concerning the academic performance of students after they transfer from 2‐year to 4‐year colleges or universities. These studies, however, have predominately included transfers to public colleges and universities. Researchers have not included the private liberal arts college in such investigations. With the continued increases in community college enrollment, a number of private liberal arts colleges are interested in exploring the viability of this market as a means to increase or stabilize enrollment. This study examined the grade point average declines (transfer shock) experienced by community college transfer students at 2 private liberal arts colleges. The sample included 216 students who transferred from a community college to either Benedictine College (Kansas) or Saint Vincent College (Pennsylvania) over a 9‐semester time period. Results indicate that the transfer shock experienced at these private liberal arts colleges was at the lower end of magnitude in comparison to studies that have used samples of public college and university transfer students.