Once a community college graduate completes an associate's degree, the institution is committing to the public that the graduate possesses a prescriptive set of knowledge, skills, and abilities either gained through, or enhanced by, their college attendance. At most institutions, these skill sets are assessed almost exclusively through internal…

Once a community college graduate completes an associate's degree, the institution is committing to the public that the graduate possesses a prescriptive set of knowledge, skills, and abilities either gained through, or enhanced by, their college attendance. At most institutions, these skill sets are assessed almost exclusively through internal…

This case study was designed to explore policies that were in place to attract, recruit, and retain qualified faculty for 4 community colleges in Sierra Leone. The research was necessitated by the apparent inability of Sierra Leone educators to train and retain faculty possessing the required academic credentials. The research questions were…

Community colleges have a storied history of successfully providing pathways and access to credentials and degrees through various models of delivery and in diverse programs of study. Until recently, the highest degree offered by community colleges was the associate degree. During the past decade, major changes have occurred in the landscape of…

Because of its diversity, the BC post-secondary system offers many routes to credential completion. However, to capture the dynamics of institutional attendance requires a long view of individuals' journeys through the various post-secondary institutions over time. In this report, the authors employ data from the "Paths on Life's Way"…

Past research has revealed that students who complete coursework in a concentrated area, defined as completing three or more courses in a specific field of study, are much more likely to have successful outcomes than those who do not. Moreover, fewer than half of students included in this research, which followed students over seven years, entered…

A commonly held belief is that formal education has a strong positive association with earnings (Sanchez, 1998). The motivation for individuals to pursue and complete an education beyond high school is likely founded in the hopes of higher paying jobs or a higher position. The "economic benefits" of a community college education can be…

In the summer of 2011, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) launched a new 21st-Century Initiative. The overall goal of the initiative is to educate an additional 5 million students with degrees, certificates, or other credentials by 2020. Grounded in the enduring commitment of community colleges to improving the lives of students…

Shifting Gears was launched in 2007 by the Joyce Foundation, a Chicago-based organization focused on improving the quality of life of citizens residing in the Great Lakes region of the United States. The primary goal of Shifting Gears is to increase the number of low-skilled, low-income Midwestern adults who obtain college-level occupational…

Many have heard calls from national policy experts, the Obama administration, and influential foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Lumina Foundation for Education to increase the number of Americans with postsecondary credentials earned at community colleges by 5 million within 10 years. If community colleges choose to…

This article explores the history of human capital in the United States in relation to scholarly study of the private economic returns to higher education. The focus of this study is the private economic returns to subbaccalaureate education in two-year community and technical colleges. This article argues that although there are some beneficial…

This report examines the expanding role of community colleges, the emerging credentialing system, and the changes in the economy that have increased the value of credentials. While business has come to rely on higher education degrees to signify general skills, employers increasingly look for performance-based certifications as indications of more…

This proposal is intended to provide the California Community College system with a means by which to better serve student needs and enhance the ability of the Chancellor's Office to record and report the many different certificates that are awarded by California's community colleges. This proposal is designed to provide the Chancellor's office…

States that although many organizations offer training courses, they also rely on educational institutions to provide training and proper credentials. Discusses the recent demand for skills in information technology (IT) and how it has generated a wide range of courses offered by community colleges. Addresses how competency in IT is assessed, and…

Formal accreditation reviews represent a significant outlay in terms of dollars and man hours for all institutions of higher education. This outlay can often be especially difficult for community colleges. In an effort to provide assistance for colleges entering the accreditation review process, a study was done of criteria that are most often…