In an era of tight budgets and declining enrollments, two-year colleges are increasingly viewed as feeder schools by larger, four-year colleges and universities, and are themselves exploring the costs and benefits of cooperative arrangements. Research has isolated five general types of cooperative arrangements between two- and four-year…

This booklet opens with a list of the features that society now demands from higher education and then describes approaches to assessing the community college mission. Twenty-first century expectations for higher education are being shaped by: (1) a change in focus from teaching to learning; (2) the need to base credentials on demonstrated…