Community colleges and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) often serve the same populations; however, the historical purposes, policies, and practices of HBCUs often better prepare them to serve first-generation students. Although both HBCUs and community colleges have their origins within the same historical period, the forces…

System offices for community college institutional research differ in many ways from campus offices for community college institutional research. The other chapters in this volume describe salient characteristics of system IR offices, but many readers may want to see a direct comparison of system IR offices to campus IR offices in the community…

This article describes similarities and differences between public and private postsecondary two-year colleges and offers suggestions to prospective students on factors to consider when selecting a two-year school. The types of schools are compared in terms of their missions, degrees offered, academic programs, faculty credentials, accreditation,…

Whereas community colleges and for-profit institutions both provide postsecondary educational opportunities, they are different in a host of dimensions. This brief describes some of those differences--not to win a debate or suggest public policy, but to show why comparisons made between the community colleges and for-profit institutions are more…

A study of 2-year post secondary institutions was conducted to provide more adequate information about institutional guidance and research programs. A questionnaire was sent to 351 vocational-technical schools that offered no transfer programs, and a slightly different version was sent to 689 community or junior colleges offering both college…

This paper provides a brief analysis of enrollment and withdrawal data for Mexican-American and non-Mexican-American students at Reedley College. The study was conducted subsequent to an expressed concern that perhaps the college could do more toward recruitment and retention of minority students. Results of an analysis of enrollment and…

A questionnaire was administered to the 1976 graduates of Corning Community College (New York) in order to obtain graduates' evaluations of their college experience. Data from 341 questionnaire responses were tabulated and compared to responses obtained from graduates of previous years. Among the findings were: (1) learning skills for a career…

During 1975-76 Cuyahoga Community College surveyed 37 institutions in different parts of the country to obtain information on faculty compensation. Thirty institutions responded, of which 19 submitted separate information on part-time faculty remuneration, the focus of this report. Part-time remuneration data for 1975-76 are compared to data for…

This publication provides historical data on enrollment, weekly student contact hours, and average daily attendance for the district and for each college in the district. Detailed enrollment data (by student category and also by ethnic group) are provided for the 1972-73 and 1973-74 academic years. Ten-year trends are available for less detailed…

Identifies and assesses the current status of community college peer institution selection systems. Finds that a limited body of research exists in the area. Suggests further research to identify unique community college variables and determine the role of classification systems in describing community college diversity. (Contains 31 references.)…

Grading policies and practices within the nine colleges comprising the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) were examined in order to analyze past and present grading policies and practices in each college and the district as a whole, to relate findings to statewide and nationwide grading practices, and to discuss possible future trends…

This paper describes the processes involved in selecting peer institutions for appropriate benchmarking using national databases (NCES-IPEDS). Benchmarking involves the identification of peer institutions and/or best practices in specific operational areas for the purpose of developing standards. The benchmarking process was borne in the early…

Addressed to institutional researchers, this report from California's Chabot College presents information on National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data sets. Included is a discussion on how these data sets can be used to create peer groups of U.S. colleges, and to produce statistics on major student variables for each of these groups.…

Presents a meta-analysis of transfer shock, the grade point average (GPA) drop experienced by many community college transfer students. Reviews findings from 62 studies of the magnitude of GPA change. Reports 79 percent of the transfer students experiencing transfer shock and 67 percent recovering from it. (DMM)

In this study, a descriptive summary is presented of the student population enrolled in member colleges of the Junior College District of Metropolitan Kansas City, Missouri. The profile data in this study are the result of a student questionnaire administered to students attending district community colleges during fall semester 1973. Of the total…