ERIC Number: ED331560
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1991-Jun
Pages: 137
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
A Study of the Impact of Iowa Community College Continuing Education Programs: Final Report.
Iowa State Dept. of Education, Des Moines. Div. of Community Colleges.
The Iowa Department of Education, in cooperation with the state's 15 community colleges and Drake University, completed an outcomes study of adult vocational training/retraining programs offered through the Adult and Continuing Education Divisions of the colleges. Study goals were to profile businesses served by the colleges, evaluate employer satisfaction with the quality of the colleges' programs, determine projected employee needs for the 1990's, profile adult students and determine their satisfaction with various aspects of the programs, and identify students' reasons for attending classes. Separate questionnaires were returned from 500 businesses and industries for a 72.57% responses rate, and from 8,753 students enrolled in 1989-90 for a 26.83% response rate. Study findings included the following: (1) 93% of the businesses were satisfied with the quality of courses; (2) 60% of the businesses projected increased training needs in the 1990's; (3) among students, the average age was 38.7 years, 50.7% were high school graduates, and 45.2% were employed full time; (4) 82% of the students were either "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with overall course quality; (5) the majority of the students (57.5%) were attending the program to upgrade skills; and (6) over 70% of the students rated each of four program features (i.e., class environment, class location, registration, and tuition procedures) as "very good" or "good." Recommendations and data tables are included. Appendixes provide a map of Iowa's community colleges, the survey instruments, guidelines for administering the surveys, lists of deans and directors of adult education by district, survey response rates by district, and a series of college press releases about the study. (PAA)
Descriptors: Adult Students, Community Colleges, Continuing Education, Demand Occupations, Education Work Relationship, Educational Assessment, Employer Attitudes, Followup Studies, Job Skills, Nontraditional Students, Outcomes of Education, Participant Satisfaction, Program Evaluation, Questionnaires, Retraining, School Business Relationship, Student Attitudes, Student Characteristics, Two Year College Students, Two Year Colleges, Vocational Education, Vocational Followup
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires; Numerical/Quantitative Data
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Iowa State Dept. of Education, Des Moines. Div. of Community Colleges.
Identifiers - Location: Iowa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A