More than 4 decades of research on community colleges has indicated that students who begin in these institutions realize lower levels of educational attainment than initial 4-year entrants. In terms of labor market outcomes, studies have overwhelmingly focused on comparing 2-year entrants to high school graduates who did not attend college. In…

Investing in community college workforce training is a central part of the Biden administration's agenda for improving the lives of American families. Now more than ever, as the nation's economy enters a post-pandemic period of significant organizational and technological change, community colleges are well-situated to help millions of low-income…

Student feedback is essential to maintain quality and relevance in the education system. Every year, British Columbia (BC) Student Outcomes collects feedback from former students who took post-secondary programs. In 2019, 92 percent of the former post-secondary students surveyed were satisfied or very satisfied with the education or training they…

A skilled workforce is key to a thriving California economy. Strong and growing demand for highly educated workers has been a hallmark of the state's economy for decades, and forecasts show this demand continuing into the future. If current trends continue, about 40 percent of jobs in California will require at least a bachelor's degree by 2030.…

In recent years, policymakers and academics have become increasingly interested in the returns to sub-baccalaureate degrees. This interest arises from surging demand for such programs over the 2000s, especially in the wake of the 2008 recession, as well as from President Obama's charge to dramatically increase the number of students with a college…

This report provides a contribution to the growing public policy debate around how to combat structural inequality by quantifying the power of community college as a pathway to economic mobility. Until recently, it has been difficult to accurately estimate the return to a community college education in Massachusetts because numerous factors affect…

This is the executive summary for the report, "Women Can't Win: Despite Making Educational Gains and Pursuing High-Wage Majors, Women Still Earn Less than Men." Gender wage disparities have always been an intractable problem in the workforce. Women are doing all the right things to close wage disparities--going to college in greater…

Policymakers have become increasingly concerned with measuring--and holding colleges accountable for--students' labor market outcomes. In this article we introduce a piecewise growth curve approach to analyzing community college students' labor market outcomes, and we discuss how this approach differs from two popular econometric approaches:…

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the current status of workforce preparation in Washington; identify high employer demand occupations, as well as fields in which academic degree production is failing to keep pace with demand; and highlight occupation fields in which students may find expanding employment opportunities. This…

This report is the result of collaboration between the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) and the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD). Using data from academic year (AY) 2006 through AY 2016, this report presents projections of awards to be produced by public, private, and proprietary institutions in Tennessee…

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) has produced new reporting tools of graduate wage outcomes out to twenty years post completion. These reports are available at the statewide level by program discipline (two-digit level of the Classification of Instructional Programs). It was found that reported wages increase by level of…

The Associate of Arts-Direct Transfer Articulation Agreement (AA-DTA) is the single largest transfer degree awarded by the community and technical (CTC) colleges. The traditional goal of this degree is completion of general education requirements in order to prepare for transfer to a four-year institution. However, a Guided Pathways framework…

Many community college students start college in developmental education and leave before enrolling in college-level coursework or making much progress toward a degree; thus, developmental education courses represent the primary education these students receive. Using student-unit record data from two large community college systems linked to wage…

This edition of California community colleges Fast Facts provides statistics from the 2016-2017 academic year in the following categories: (1) Per-Student Funding by Education System, 2017-18 (est.); (2) Undergraduate Student Enrollment, 2016-17; (3) Number of Student Transfers to Four-Year Public & Private Institutions; (4) Percentage of…

The gender wage gap, the disparity in pay between men and women, has narrowed to 81 cents in 2016 from 57 cents on the dollar in 1975. Nevertheless, the gap persists. Over the course of a career, the gender wage gap results in women earning $1 million less than men do. To close this gap, women have relied primarily on the advantages conferred by…