Madeline Joy Trimble

Labor Market Returns to Sub-Baccalaureate Credentials How Much Does a Community College Degree or Certificate Pay?

This study provides one of the first estimates of the returns to different types of community college credentials—short-term certificates, long-term certificates, and associate degrees—across different fields of study. We exploit a rich data set that includes matched, longitudinal college transcripts and Unemployment Insurance records for students who entered a Washington State community college in 2001–2002. Our findings based on an individual fixed effect model suggest that earning an associate degree or a long-term certificate is associated with increased wages, particularly for women. We find that there is greater variation in returns to wages by the field of study than by degree type.

What About Certificates? Evidence on the Labor Market Returns to Nondegree Community College Awards in Two States

The annual number of certificates awarded by community colleges has increased dramatically, but relatively little research has been conducted on the economic benefits of certificates in the labor market. Based on detailed student-level information from matched college transcript and employment data in two states, this article estimates the relationship between earning a certificate and student earnings and employment status after exiting college. Our results indicate that certificates have positive impacts on earnings in both states overall, and in cases where there is no impact on earnings, certificates may nonetheless lead to increased probability of employment. In addition, we find substantial variation in the returns across fields of study and, more importantly, across specific programs within a particular field. Finally, in-depth analysis of the industry of employment before and after college enrollment indicates that many adult learners use certificate programs to switch to a new industry, which may not necessarily boost their earnings, at least in the short run. Our results therefore point to the importance of including multiple measures to evaluate the benefits of a certificate program, rather than merely evaluating its impact on overall earnings.

Reshaping the College Transition: States That Offer Early College Readiness Assessments and Transition Curricula

Despite the fact that many states have increased their high school graduation requirements over the last several years, too many graduates are still underprepared for college (Bailey, 2009) and the workforce (Symonds, Schwartz, & Ferguson, 2011). Reasons for this underpreparedness include, among other factors: (1) a lack of clear information on students’ progress toward college and career readiness during the high school years that could allow students to address gaps in knowledge and skills, and (2) a mismatch between what high schools teach and the expectations of colleges and employers (Venezia, Kirst, & Antonio, 2003).

Charting Pathways to Completion for Low-Income Community College Students

This study uses administrative data from Washington State to chart the educational pathways of first-time community college students over seven years, with a focus on young, socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Of particular interest are the rates at which students enter a course of study (by passing multiple college-level courses within a focused field of study), the amount of remediation taken by students in each concentration, and the rates at which students in different concentrations earn certificates, earn associate degrees, or transfer to four-year institutions. We found that students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds were less likely than higher SES students to enter a concentration, which we define as taking and passing at least three courses in a single field of study. Among those who did enter a concentration, low-SES students were less likely to concentrate in liberal arts and sciences and more likely to enter a concentration in career-technical education (CTE), where completion rates are lower. Low-SES students were overrepresented in fields such as education and childcare that have low completion rates, although they were well represented compared with high-SES students in nursing and allied health, which tend to have higher labor market returns for graduates. Overall, however, the majority of young students in our sample who entered a program of study—even low-SES young students— were more likely to do so in liberal arts and sciences than in career-technical programs. Some researchers and policy analysts have suggested that it would be beneficial to encourage more students into pathways that involve multiple, ―stackable‖ credentials in CTE fields with relatively high labor market returns. Given that liberal arts and sciences is the default pathway for the majority of younger students, convincing recent high school graduates to choose a CTE path would likely require a fundamental shift in the way high schools and community colleges guide and prepare young, first-time college students. Regardless of whether they concentrated in a CTE field or in liberal arts and sciences, however, low-SES students were less likely to earn a credential or transfer to a four-year institution. The majority of students in our sample of first-time students did not get far enough to enter a concentration. Despite the evidence of a systemic problem in low overall rates of credential completion, especially among low-income students, there are no easy solutions. However, a key intermediate step would be to increase the rate at which students enter coherent programs of study. The ―low-hanging fruit‖ may be the students who attempt but do not enter a concentration and the many who do not even get that far but who signal an intent to pursue a credential, whether they signal this through self-reporting, attempting developmental coursework, or attempting multiple collegelevel courses. In our sample of first-time college students, this represented more than half of the younger students who did not succeed in entering a concentration.

Structure in Community College Career-Technical Programs: A Qualitative Analysis

Using data obtained from interviews and program websites at Washington community and technical colleges, the authors of this study examine the structure of community college career-technical programs in allied health, business and marketing, computer and information studies, and mechanics and repair. A framework for structure with four dimensions—program alignment, program prescription, information quality, and active program advising and support—is used to evaluate the practices of relatively highand low-performing colleges within each field of study. The authors reviewed the websites of all programs at highand low-performing colleges in each of these fields of study and conducted case studies on individual programs from these fields, interviewing faculty, administrators, and counselors to learn more about the dimensions of structure in the programs. The allied health, computer and information science, and mechanics and repair programs were all found to be highly structured; the business and marketing programs were found to have a moderate level of structure. Overall, given that all of the programs were at least moderately structured, there was limited evidence of a connection between program structure and program performance. Table of

The Role of Community College Education in the Employment of Information Technology Workers in Washington State

Understanding the role of subbaccalaureate programs in preparing students for the workforce has become increasingly important, particularly in quickly changing fields that require well-trained technical workers, such as information technology (IT). To better understand the role of community colleges in educating IT workers, we examined two key issues: (1) students’ employment outcomes by the type of community college IT preparation they complete, and (2) the type of employers that tend to hire community college IT students. Specifically, we analyzed data on students who were enrolled in an IT program at any Washington State community and technical college during the 2000-01 academic year and who completed their program or left college by the spring of the 200405 academic year. We examined information on students’ course-taking in college and their employment before, during, and after their college enrollment. Our investigation of employment outcomes by type of community college preparation suggests that employers prefer workers with higher-level credentials. Of the four groups we analyzed, students with both an associate degree and a certificate in IT had the strongest employment outcomes in terms of likelihood of employment, hours worked, and earnings. They were followed by students with an IT associate degree, and then by students with an IT certificate. Students who earned no credential but concentrated their study in IT by completing four or more courses had the weakest employment outcomes, underscoring the importance of completing full programs and earning a credential. Compared with workers overall, IT students were more likely to work for medium sized employers. They were also more likely to be employed in temporary services and educational services industries. Our findings highlight the importance of community college efforts to engage with the full range of local employers as well as the potential need for different engagement strategies, depending on the employer.

Guided Pathways to Careers Four Dimensions of Structure in Community College Career-Technical Programs

Objective: Some have hypothesized that community college programs are not sufficiently structured to support student success and that students would benefit from more highly structured programs. This study examines the specific ways that structure is expressed in policy and practice at representative community colleges. Method: Using data obtained from interviews and program websites at Washington State community and technical colleges, we examine the structure of community college career-technical programs along four dimensions: program prescription, program alignment, access to information, and active advising and support. Results: We find high levels of structure on all dimensions in the allied health, computer and information science, and mechanics and repair programs. There are moderate levels of structure in the business and marketing programs. Contributions: This study documents the specific ways that community college career-technical programs are structured to support student success, and it provides a framework for examining structure to inform practice and guide future research efforts.

Reshaping the College Transition: Early College Readiness Assessments and Transition Curricula in Four States

Acknowledgements Funding for this research was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We are indebted to the policymakers and educators who agreed to be interviewed for this study. They include dedicated and knowledgeable people from the states of California, New York, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Additionally, we want to acknowledge the important contributions of members of the CCRC staff. Former team members Rachel Hare Bork and Sosanya Jones both contributed to the original research. Thomas Bailey, director of CCRC, and Shanna Jaggars, assistant director of CCRC, provided important input to our research design. skillfully edited the report and prepared it for publication. conducts research on the major issues affecting community colleges in the United States and contributes to the development of practice and policy that expands access to higher education and promotes success for all students.

Modularization in Developmental Mathematics in Two States: Implementation and Early Outcomes

Developmental (i.e., remedial) mathematics is often a barrier to student progress and success in community colleges. In response, many colleges and states have modularized the curriculum and course structure of their developmental mathematics sequence in an effort to decrease the amount of time it takes for students to complete their developmental requirements and increase the number of students who successfully move on to college-level math. Drawing on data collected in a mixed-method study of modularized developmental mathematics reforms in North Carolina and Virginia, this paper describes how the reforms have been implemented, with particular attention to the choices colleges must make when designing course offerings and instructional delivery. Student outcomes—including placement patterns, module pass rates, and progression through the developmental math sequence—are presented for two distinct course structures. Analysis of qualitative data provides insights into how the modularized curricula and course structures present opportunities and challenges for student progression and learning. Two overarching themes emerged from this analysis. First, “modularization,” as a reform to developmental mathematics, cannot be disentangled from the implementation choices colleges make. Second, the theorized benefits of modularization, which include student-centered and personalized learning as well as enhanced mastery of content, appear to be in tension with the effort to accelerate student progress through developmental math requirements. The paper provides examples of how colleges have balanced these tensions and found solutions to drawbacks inherent to each course structure. The final section includes recommendations for colleges.

Institutional Variation in Credential Completion: Evidence from Washington State Community and Technical Colleges

As community colleges search for models of organizational success, new attention is being paid to technical colleges—institutions that primarily offer terminal programs in specific career-related fields rather than focusing on more general academic credentials and transfer programs as many comprehensive institutions do. Recent research observes that in some states, technical colleges have substantially higher completion rates than do comprehensive community colleges. Yet there is scant research available that systematically compares similar students in similar programs at technical and comprehensive colleges. This study uses administrative data from Washington State to compare the outcomes of young, career-technical students across institutions, with and without extensive controls for student characteristics, educational intent, and area of study. This generates three key findings: first, technical and comprehensive colleges tend to serve quite different populations, so a true apples-to-apples comparison requires limiting the analysis to a relatively small fraction (less than 10%) of students enrolled at either institution. Second, at least for this limited subset of career-technical students, technical schools have significantly higher certificate completion rates after three years, with no apparent deficit in associate degree completion. Our third main finding is that the differences in student outcomes within the two types of schools are much larger than differences between them. Even within this limited group, institution type alone explains a relatively small fraction of the overall variation in student outcomes across institutions. It would thus be unwise for research and policymakers to fixate on this one dimension of