The basic assumption of this paper is that unused and underused public school buildings are appropriate facilities to become opportunity centers for neighborhood citizens of all ages. A detailed case study of a community education program in Grand Rapids, Michigan, illustrates this assumption, and a brief historical summary of changing population…

This study seeks to extend the literature on higher education enrollment patterns during times of recession by examining patterns of enrollment and successful course completion in one of the world's largest higher education systems--the California Community College system. The data are drawn from publicly available data sources on the web. CCC…

An analysis is presented of the application of the Fiscal Trend Monitoring System (FISM) to community services/community education programs. First, background material describes the FISM as an approach to monitoring the financial condition of a county, city, township, or other governmental body with taxing capacity and explains how it may be…

The Kalamazoo Promise, announced in 2005, is an innovative college-scholarship program available to every graduate of the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Schools. Programs such as the Kalamazoo Promise, which is being emulated in cities across the United States, open new avenues for the acquisition of human capital regardless of income level or…

Existing research demonstrates a strong relationship between the prevalence of irregular enrollment patterns among community college students and their low rates of degree attainment (Adelman 2006; Bahr 2009; Berkner et al. 2000; Goldrick-Rab 2004, 2007; Horn and Nevill 2006). However, very little is known about the features and processes that…

The superintendent of a suburban Seattle school district discusses four of the positive implications of declining school enrollments. First, the school enrollment trend is known. Second, there are going to be empty classrooms, which means that special programs that were slighted when facilities were crowded can now be adequately housed. Third, the…

The primary purpose of the study was to identify successful electronic and manufacturing engineering programs at two-year colleges that Northeast Community College (a pseudonym) programs can be benched marked against. The project examined two-year college programs for increased enrollment and the number of graduates for the academic years 2000 to…

This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study into the nonlinear transfer behaviors of students beginning higher education at the Maricopa County Community College, Arizona, and transferring to one of Arizona's three universities. The transfer patterns of recent high school graduates entering the community college in fall 1994 were…

In December 1976 a marketing process was implemented at Prince George's Community College (Maryland) as part of an institutional response to external forces--such as new emphases on life-long learning and equal opportunity, and declining fiscal support--and internal forces, including changing student demographics, enrollments and interests, and…

This report summarizes the results of a conference on declining enrollment sponsored by the Arizona State Department of Education. Topics covered include school closing, budget implications of declining enrollment, staffing problems and reduction in force, board of education and community support, problems of small school districts, and…

Compares 1970 and 1980 data concerning population, population per housing unit, school age population, and public school enrollment for the suburbs surrounding Chicago, Illinois. (FL)

In an effort to increase opportunities for minorities in higher education in the face of rising costs and decreasing funding, the Alliance for Excellence (AFE) was formed in 1986 in Roanoke, Virginia as a partnership between black churches and community colleges. The partnership seeks to combine the local resources of the colleges with the…

Drawing from the experiences of Oglala Lakota College (OLC) in South Dakota, this paper points to the philosophical and operational changes colleges and universities must make if they truly desire to recruit and retain significant numbers of minority students. The first section discusses the philosophical bases of tribal colleges, arguing that one…

This paper discusses adult education at community colleges. Three types of adults returning to school are delineated: the employed male who returns to school to update his occupational skills, the housewife who comes back to school after her children have left home, and the senior citizen or retired person who is not interested in a degree. It is…

The effect of local public colleges on total higher education enrollment is examined in this study. While it is apparent that these colleges have attracted many students to their classrooms, this study attempts to find out both how many of these students would have attended other colleges and how many would not have attended at all had the local…