Improving student attainment in community colleges: Institutional characteristics and policies (original) (raw)

Community colleges are a crucial point of access to higher education for low-income, minority, and other underserved students. Indeed, these groups are overrepresented (with respect to their share of undergraduate enrollment) in two-year and less-than-two-year postsecondary institutions. The community college access mission is built on low tuition, convenient location, flexible scheduling, an open-door admissions policy, and programs and services designed to support students who may have various socioeconomic and academic barriers inhibiting postsecondary success. If community colleges-or similar institutions-were not available, many of these students would not have an opportunity to attend higher education. While access to community colleges is an important first step for a wide variety of students, they must also be successful after they have enrolled. Unfortunately, many students never finish a degree. For example, only 36 percent of students who enrolled in a community college as their first postsecondary enrollment in the 1995-96 school year had completed a certificate, associate, or bachelor's degree within six years. Low-income, minority, and first-generation college students all have even lower six-year completion rates. Although many students can benefit from a community college education even if they do not complete a degree or certificate, community college faculty and administrators would all like to see completion rates rise.

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