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ERIC Number: ED358894
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1992-Dec
Pages: 3
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Describing the Non-Liberal Arts Community College Curriculum. ERIC Digest.
Ignash, Jan
While national trends in liberal arts course offerings in community colleges have been charted for many years, trends in non-liberal courses have not been similarly mapped. In an effort to gain a better understanding of the entire community college curriculum, the Center for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC), in Los Angeles, California, augmented its 1991 study of the liberal arts with a study of non-liberal arts, using data from the same 164 community colleges. Non-liberal arts courses were counted and categorized using spring 1991 class schedules for the 164 participating colleges. Excluding laboratory courses, which were not included in the CSCC tally, 43.3% of the spring 1991 community college curriculum was devoted to the non-liberal arts. These classes were grouped into the following 10 course categories: business and office (24.6% of all courses); personal skills (19.1%); trade and industry (18.6%); technical education (18.1%); health occupations (10.2%); marketing and distribution (3.4%); education (2.5%); engineering technology (2%); agriculture (1.2%); and home economics (0.2%). The low percentage for home economics courses was due to the grouping of classes such as pattern design and culinary arts in the "trade and industry" category. A number of two-year college courses combine both liberal arts and non-liberal arts subject matters, such as those providing literacy skills in occupational courses, or truly interdisciplinary courses integrating two separate subject areas. (PAA)
Publication Type: ERIC Publications; Reports - Descriptive; ERIC Digests in Full Text
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges, Los Angeles, CA.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A