The Moving Missions of Community Colleges: An Examination of Degree-Granting Profiles Over Time

Abstract

Objective: Despite extensive debate about the curricular mission of community colleges, prior research has not sufficiently analyzed differences in the kinds of degrees (i.e., the field of study and award level) community colleges produce. Therefore, we explore both the fields of study and the levels at which public community colleges grant degrees and analyze how this has changed over time. Method: Multilevel latent class analysis is used here to estimate latent degree-granting profiles, and colleges are allocated into the profiles based on their observed degree-granting behaviors from 1987 to 2012. Results: The analysis shows that public community colleges can be allocated into five distinct degree-granting profiles over the period of study. A small minority of colleges have and continue to engage almost exclusively in a vocational mission. The two degree profiles that increased in prominence over time suggest an overall shift toward the simultaneous pursuit of transfer and vocational missions. However, a majority of colleges (68%) exhibited stable degree-granting behaviors between 1987 and 2012, indicating a relatively high level of stability in degree-granting patterns across community colleges during this period. Contribution: These patterns highlight variation across colleges and both stability and change within institutions over time. This suggests that public community colleges are simultaneously situated in strong institutional and technical environments and, thus, are subject to constraints and incentives that shape not only their stated policies but also their actual degree-granting behaviors.

Power and place: Understanding the relative presence of diverse disciplines.

“…A related body of literature traces the sociohistorical emergence of new disciplines and the expansion and decline of academic fields. This literature explores trends toward practical and vocational education (Abbott, 2002; Barringer & Jaquette, 2018; Brint, Riddle, Turk-Bicakci, & Levy, 2005); the rise of interdisciplinary fields (Bachman, 2013; Brint et al, 2009; Feller, 2002; Wood, 2012); shifting core academic programs (e.g., Kraatz & Zajac, 1996, 2001); and academic program closure (e.g., Eckel, 2002). It also describes stability and disciplinary “churn” (i.e., the rapid opening and closing of academic programs; Osley-Thomas, 2020) in higher education.…”

Strengthening Outcomes of Adult Students in Community Colleges

“…Responding to workforce shortages in the communities and regions that they serve is embedded within the multifaceted missions of community colleges. Evidence indicates that community colleges will adjust their degree offerings and program foci to meet local demand (Bahr 2013;Barringer and Jaquette 2018). Employers increasingly rely on community colleges to provide job-specific training for their workers, including in high-need areas such as middle-skills professions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Hagedorn and Purnamasari 2012;Weeks 2009).…”

How Institutional Identity Shapes College Student Recruitment: The Relationship Between Religious Distinctiveness and Market Demand

“…The ongoing tension between money and mission that confronts distinctive institutions is notably palpable within the religious college segment of the private nonprofit sector (Weisbrod et al 2008). The religious college segment is comprised of different types of faith‐based institutions that categorically differ from one another, much like the established typologies of institutions that characterize other sectors, including Hispanic‐serving institutions (Núñez et al 2016), broad access institutions (Crisp et al 2019), and community colleges (Barringer and Jacquette 2018). In his religious college typology, Benne (2001) contends there are four types of faith‐based institutions that can be ordered on a continuum from strongest connection to founding tradition (orthodox colleges) to weakest (accidentally pluralist colleges).…”