In the 2013-14 academic year, 46 percent of students who completed a degree at a four-year institution were enrolled at a two-year institution at some point in the previous 10 years. This is a one percentage point increase over the comparable figure for degrees awarded in 2010-11. The prior two-year enrollment may have been brief (as little as a…

Since the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) launched the Voluntary Framework of Accountability (VFA) in 2011, accountability measures have sprung up in just about every corner of higher education. There is the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), the National Governors Association's Complete to Compete program,…

Using critical policy analysis focused on racial-ethnic equity, this study analyses state policy documents and accountability instruments governing transfer from 2-year colleges to 4-year institutions in the following states: California, Florida, Texas, Michigan, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin. Based on data collected in 2009, the findings…

This study utilizes a mixed methods exploratory design to examine the nature of math faculty engagement in the student learning outcomes assessment cycle. The focus of the study is on the types of changes that math faculty are implementing as a result of assessment outcomes and the institutional environmental factors that impact faculty engagement…

By 2020, 65 percent of all jobs in the economy will require postsecondary education and training beyond high school. That's a pretty strong statement in defense of the value of higher education in this country. But it will mean little unless the nation's colleges and universities--and, specifically, community colleges--can produce more workers…

"The Road to Recovery: Projecting U.S. Job Growth and Higher Education Demand through 2020" (this issue, p26-29) presented six key indicators that highlighted the latest in education and employment needs for the success of the future jobs market. While the U.S. economy is growing, questions still remain: What skills do employers value…

Neosho County Community College, is a small college in Kansas. It set out to measure outcomes in every course, program, and in general education. It wound up creating a simple, elegant, inexpensive, faculty-driven system that transformed the college culture from an emphasis on what was being taught to what was being learned.

This dissertation consists of three essays on adolescents' post secondary education choices and labor market returns. The first chapter analyzes returns to selectivity of four-year colleges by different post-bachelor's degree schooling paths. The second chapter documents the role of family income in college application and enrollment…

Private for-profit institutions have been the fastest growing part of the U.S. higher education sector. For-profit enrollment increased from 0.2 percent to 9.1 percent of total enrollment in degree-granting schools from 1970 to 2009, and for-profit institutions account for the majority of enrollments in non-degree granting postsecondary schools.…

Colleges and universities throughout the country are increasingly coming under pressure from accrediting institutions and legislative bodies to implement comprehensive outcomes assessment initiatives designed to measure and document student performance. Over the past ten years pressure has been directed towards colleges to reshape their current…

Discusses the need to adopt a strategically guided model for community college research that changes the basis for assessment from institutional performance in a commoditized market to institutional advantage in a turbulent market. Focuses on how research data can be generated and used to achieve an advantage by differentiating one institution…

Analyzes the similarities and differences between two outcomes-based assessment schemes: the institutional effectiveness model, which measures an institution's effectiveness at improving teaching and learning; and the performance funding model, which focuses on product, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of programs. Contains 15 references. (JDI)

This document summarizes findings from an analysis of participants in Connecticut community college occupational programs conducted by the Department of Labor (DOL). The community colleges provided the DOL with files containing the social security numbers of all occupational program participants for an academic year. DOL then matched these files…

The Institutional Report Card of Corning Community College (CCC) (New York) presents data on traditional indicators of effectiveness common to many institutions, such as graduation, success, and employment rates, as well as student satisfaction. It also includes results of the State University of New York's (SUNY) Student Opinion Survey and…

Presents Golden West College's (GWC's) (California) 1999-2000 accreditation self-study report. Contains the following chapters: (1) report abstract, which summarizes the ten standards of GWC: mission, integrity, effectiveness, educational programs, student support and development, information and learning resources, faculty and staff, physical…