Community Colleges in US Higher Education

Thomas Bailey, Director

Community College Research Center

Teachers College, Columbia University

How might the changing labour market transform higher education?

OECD Expert Meeting   

February 13, 2007

Paris, France

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Community College Research CenterInstitute on Education and the Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University

525 West 120th Street, Box 174, New York, NY 10027 E-mail: ccrc@columbia.eduTelephone: 212.678.3091

International Context

• Dramatic growth of post-secondary education in most countries, resulting from growing and changing requirements for learning

• Much of that growth in “sub-university” or “middle” sector

• In most countries, these per student costs in this sector are lower than the university sector

• These sectors have many advantages—cost, serving different needs and different students

• Potential disadvantages, particularly relating to opportunity and equity

Examples

• Community colleges—US and Canada

• Fachhochschulen—Germany and Austria

• Institutes Universitaires de Technologie—France

• (Technical and) Further Education Colleges—(Australia) and the UK

• Hogscholen—Netherlands

• Others in Finland and Norway

Many Issues

• Institutional relationship between middle and university sector (ie. transfer?)

• Substantive content of each

• Relative costs and relative tuition

• Balance between broad educational and focused “trade school” missions

• Characteristics and goals of students

Structure of US HE

• Majority of students in public institutions• Hierarchy of institutions

– Sub-two-year institutions—private– Community colleges—mostly public– Lower tier four-year colleges—public and private– Prestigious research universities—public and private

• Degrees—Graduate, Bachelor’s, AA, Certificate, non-credit

Fall Headcount: 1970 to 2000

0

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

1970-71

1972-73

1974-75

1976-77

1978-79

1980-81

1982-83

1984-85

1986-87

1988-89

1990-91

1992-93

1994-95

1996-97

1998-99

2000-01

Source: U.S. Department of Education. (2002). Digest of Education Statistics.

Public four-year

Private four-year

Public two-year

Private two-year

To Which Field of Study?

48%

28%33%27%

10%

51%

65%

40%

49%

32%

17%24%

27%24%25%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

No Degree Certificate AA/AS BA/BS Total

Academic Occupational Missing

Source: BPS89.

Current Fund Expenditures (per student, 1995-96)

$20,579

$7,180

$28,623

$8,609

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

$35,000

Public four-year Public two-year Private four-year Private two-year

1995-96

Source: U.S. Department of Education. (2002). Digest of Education Statistics.

Tuition (2001-2002)

Institution Tuition

Private Four-year $16,287

Public Four-year $3,746

Public Two-year $1,379

States with the Largest and Smallest Two-Year Enrollment

Five states with most CC students

Four-year Two-year1) California 551,871 1,375,9002) Texas 436,530 460,0043) Illinois 193,783 340,3724) Florida 238,189 318,7235) New York 336,003 247,414

Five states with fewest CC students

Four-year Two-year46) West Virginia 69,967 6,16947) Montana 32,059 5,32848) South Dakota 29,882 4,97549) Vermont 15,609 4,41250) Alaska 25,396 1,163

0.170.170.280.05

1.340.74

0.09to four-year

Public Ratio of two-year

Public Ratio of two-year

to four-year2.491.051.76

Source: U.S. Department of Education. (2002). Digest of Education Statistics.

(Fall 2000)

Summary

• CCs account for 40-50 percent of PS enrollments• CCs have much lower costs and much lower tuition• The majority of students in community colleges are in

occupational programs• Structure of PS sector varies by state

Economic Outcomes by DegreeHS

diplomaCert AA/AS BA/BS

Wages (1999) $23,297 $22,426 $27,225 $33,733

Hours worked

per week (1999)

42.9 41.7 42.5 44.6

% Employed (2000) 85.7% 88.6% 94.8% 95.9%

% Employed

full-time (2000)

77.1% 77.2% 85.8% 90.8%

Source: NELS.44039.41

Economic Value of CC Education

• Benefits of an Associate Degree (compared to a HS degree) Men earn 15 to 30 percent more Women earn up to 50 percent more

• Certificates Positive for women Uncertain for men

• Earnings benefit of an associate degree is at least half of the benefit of a BA

Summary

• AAs and BAs have economic value• CC education, on a per year or per

course basis, has as high a payoff as BA education (at least so far)

• Certificates have uncertain value and rarely serve as lower rungs of educational ladders

• Education without degrees has value, but degrees have more value

Providers of Non-Credit Job-Related Education (1999)

Elementary school, junior HS, or HS 4.3%

Public community colleges 6.5%

4-year college or university 12.4%

Private vocational school 9.6%

Adult learning center 1.3%

Business or industry 38.1%

Professional assoc./labor union 10.8%

Government agency & public library 11.9%

Community, religious, or other org. 5.1%

Total number of students: 53,600,000

Source: NHES99

High School Completion and Initial Postsecondary Enrollment

Eighth Graders in 1988

PSE 2-Yr or <2-Yr38%

PSE 4-Yr40%

No PSE w/HS or GED15%

No PSE, No HS7%

High School Completion and Initial Postsecondary Education by SES Quartile

Eighth Graders in 1988

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Lowest Second Third Highest

Perc

ent o

f SES

Qua

rtile

No PSE, No HS

No PSE w/HS or GED

PSE 2-Yr or <2-Yr

PSE 4-Yr

Community Colleges and AccessCompared to Students in BA Programs

Dimension Main Characteristics

Demographics Older & Minority

Program of study Occupational

Intensity Part-time & Part-year

Reasons for enrolling Job skills

Self perception Worker in college

Family background Low SES & First-generation

High school background Low rank & scores

Source: NPSAS96; BPS89; NELS88

Percent Distribution by Total Credits Earned in All PSE within Eight Years

by Initial Institution Type

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0-<10 10-<20 20-<30 30-<40 40-<50 50-<60 60-<70 70-<80 80-<90 90-<100 100-<110

110-<120

120-<130

130-<140

140-<150

150+

Any Four-Year

CommunityCollege

CC First PSE StudentsPercent Distribution by Highest Outcome in All PSE

within Eight Years (NELS)Certificate

6%

Associate15%

Bachelors18%

<10 Credits (no deg/cert)17%

10+ Credits (no deg/cert/xfer)

33%

Transfer (no deg/cert)11%

CC First PSE Students in Various GroupsPercent Distribution by Highest Outcome in All PSE within

Eight Years (NELS)

010203040506070

All

Low In

com

e

Hispan

icBlac

k

Pre

ce

nta

ge

No Degree orTransfer

Transfer

Degree orCertificate

Grubb and Sweet

• Emulate universities

• Collaborate with universities

• Develop a distinctive role independent of universities

• Providers of training at the sub-tertiary level