Community colleges provide postsecondary education to millions of students in the United States each year, but their graduation rates are low. Many community colleges have implemented interventions to help students persist in college and earn degrees. MDRC has studied many such interventions; several of them improved students' academic outcomes,…

In the United States, approximately 33 percent of all community colleges offer at least one type of international education program; of those, about 13 percent offer designated education abroad programs (Malveaux and Raby 2019). Advocacy for community college international education is also not new and is evident in publications, reports, and…

This systematic synthesis examines the intended and unintended consequences of performance-based funding (PBF) policies in higher education. Within this synthesis, we focus particularly on evidence from research studies with strong causal inference designs in an effort to understand the impacts of these policies. PBF adoption is generally…

This chapter reviews recent literature on the external fiscal environment in which community colleges operate and on the ways community colleges adapt to changes in that environment.

Designed to encourage and inform community college efforts to secure private financial support, this literature review and resource guide examine the current status of fund raising at community colleges and list pertinent information sources. After introductory comments advocate increased community college involvement in fund raising, the paper…

Today many community colleges are faced with a multitude of financial problems that threaten the stability of their educational and operational programs. These problems include decreases in funding, rising costs, outdated funding formulas, and volatile enrollment patterns. The extent to which individual community college leaders understand these…

The urban mission of two-year community colleges with open enrollment policies is to train, retain and graduate students from all walks of life, including the poor, displaced, under-employed, and unemployed. This mission can be undermined if management decisions are not informed by detailed enrollment data, especially on how the timing of student…

In an effort to provide an overview of the history of private financial support to public two-year colleges, this paper presents a synthesis of 20 relevant publications and discusses the implications of the findings for fund-raising at the Marin Community Colleges (MCC). Following information on the purpose and methods of the study and its…

This paper discusses three ways of structuring community college governmental bodies and describes the benefits of a combined approach to governance. To remain true to their purpose of serving the community, governing bodies for two-year colleges must consist of representatives from the surrounding community. Although community college governing…

Community colleges are making more aggressive and sophisticated efforts to raise funds from private sources because of federal, state, and local funding cutbacks, and some institutions are having substantial success. (MSE)

Discusses various sources of private funds available to community colleges, including foundations, alumni, life-income gifts and annuity programs, corporations, and auxiliary enterprises. Identifies key members of a college's resource development team and warns of risks of increasing dependency on private funds. (DMM)

One form of linkage between the two-year college and its community is a college alumni group. A review of the literature indicates that two-year college alumni organizations do not have a long history, and those which do exist are very recent creations. They can benefit the college by: (1) providing a good form of external public relations for…

Community college foundations came into their own in the mid-1970's as a means of helping colleges achieve their missions and goals through community involvement and alternative fundraising and resource development. By 1978, 546 of 1,037 public community colleges had active or inactive foundations. The literature on these organizations suggests…

Drawing from interviews with educational leaders in Iowa and a review of research, historical, and legislative materials, this paper provides an analysis of the distribution of funds within Iowa's statewide system of area colleges. After a statement of the issues of funding equity within the area college system and among the other postsecondary…

Focusing on the role of community colleges in providing affordable access to postsecondary education, this two-part monograph reviews college services and federal aid programs for college students and provides projections of federal aid for 1998-99. The first part reviews the role of the colleges in the modern economy, highlighting such efforts as…