Every state offers community colleges as the first rung on the ladder of higher education. They prepare students for four-year colleges, educate key professions, offer job training and basic skills, and bolster economic development. However, this education policy brief finds that the 50 states differ widely in the extent to which they use their community college systems. The report ranks the states on five different ways of measuring the use and growth of the community college option that they offer their citizens in terms of: (1) community colleges' share of all higher education enrollments in a state; (2) the share of a state's total population ages 18 and over that's enrolled full- or part-time in a community college; (3) the share of a state's total population aged 18 and over that's represented by full-time equivalent registration in community colleges; (4) the five-year growth rate in community college enrollment; and (5) the amount by which growth in community college enrollments is outpacing (or lagging) the growth in public four-year college enrollments. The report then examines the role of tuition and the condition of the state's economy and population trends as factors impacting enrollment, followed by a discussion of the challenge ahead for community college leaders, policymakers and researchers. (Contains 6 tables and 7 endnotes.)