This paper traces the development of community colleges, analyzes their curricular functions, and discusses their contributions to the American educational system. First, several hypotheses accounting for the rise of the community college in America are summarized, including those pointing to a conspiracy of the elite, a populist alliance, and a…

This paper considers data on community college students provided by the California Statewide Longitudinal Study (SLS) and the implications of this study for curriculum and educational planning in areas other than vocational education, with special emphasis on implications for the transfer program. First, a background is provided on the origins and…

Community colleges, in order to maintain a credible place within higher education during the 1980's, will have to integrate arts and sciences instruction into a curriculum provided for an increasing percentage of non-transfer students. This increase, due to an expected intensification of the competition from universities for a shrinking pool of…

Despite some initial hesitancy in the first half of the twentieth century to award associate degrees, since the end of World War II, the associate degree has become as widely accepted by two-year colleges as the baccalaureate degree is by four-year colleges. This is evidenced by the steady increase in the number of associate degrees awarded…

College-wide and departmental goals are outlined for 1980 through 1985 in this master plan for Central Arizona College (CAC). The plan first presents CAC's institutional philosophy and then outlines 40 college-wide goals in terms of service objectives and desired outcomes. Population projections through 1985 for CAC's service district are followed…

Discusses community colleges' multiple roles and the impact of declining elementary-secondary performance on higher education. Offers examples of changing relations with secondary education; community college programs for immigrants, minorities, and educationally disadvantaged; a continuum of occupational programs; diversity in transfer education;…

In April 1994, a Transfer Symposium was held by the California Community Colleges to bring educational analysts and policymakers together to discuss trends and issues affecting the transfer process and other aspects of educational access. This report presents transcripts from the two panel presentations and minutes from the three discussion…

The renewed emphasis on the community college transfer function has both positive and negative aspects. On one hand, the creation of articulation agreements, transfer centers, consortia, and national centers promises to reduce the barriers between two- and four-year colleges, enhance the mobility of minority students, and improve teaching and…

Provides citations to documents from the ERIC collection dealing with: the future of the community college; general education; vocational education; transfer education; community education and services; education for adult, nontraditional, and underprepared students; lifelong learning; reverse transfers; minority education; student objectives; and…

In March 1990, the Center for the Study of Community Colleges in Los Angeles hosted a Transfer Assembly as part of an on-going effort to stabilize the imprecise definitions and data relating to student transfers from community colleges to four-year institutions. This report provides excerpts from six of the presentations given to the assembly.…

A major reason for the paucity of usable data on the contributions and effectiveness of community colleges is that the definitions on which the data are based are imprecise. Colleges' contributions might be better understood if their functions were reconceptualized. The collegiate dimension of community colleges (i.e, that portion of the…

This supplementary report presents testimony on the community college transfer function given to the California Postsecondary Education Commission's Ad Hoc Committee on Community College Transfer. First, Paul Elsner discusses developments related to transfer and articulation with four-year institutions within the Maricopa Community College…

This discussion of the transfer function of California's community colleges focuses on the problems of obtaining reliable information, research findings on factors affecting transfer success, and ways of accurately assessing transfer rates. After affirming the importance of the transfer function of community colleges, the paper examines flaws and…

In recognition of the 25th anniversary of University College (UC), the first public two-year college in Ohio, this report presents an overview of the history and contributions of the college; a description of its students, student services, technical and transfer programs, developmental education programs, and community relations; and a discussion…

Highlights are presented from 10 critical papers prepared by a panel of experts to describe the relevance of the Statewide Longitudinal Study (SLS) of California community college (CCC) students to each panelist's area of expertise, to identify policy issues or considerations related to SLS data, and to prepare recommendations. The paper begins by…