Critical assessment of initiatives in community college international education

Abstract

In the 1947 Truman Commission, Zook noted a validation of international education for US community colleges and specified two recommendations for the internationalization of US community colleges. The first recommendation was to embrace internationalization in the curriculum, and the second was to create an educational context in which students could gain an international understanding. This article critically assesses the extent to which US community colleges have met Zook's (1947) recommendations. The findings show that internationalization practices are supported by US community college leadership over time, are found in American Association of Community Colleges policies, are the subject of graduate student dissertations, and are the subject of research since the 1960s. The article concludes with a comprehensive set of recommendations for community colleges to support future actionable international agendas intended to serve the next generation of community colleges and their students.