Across the nation, student enrollment is exploding, while budgets are being slashed to the bone. A March 2010 report by the League for Innovation and the Campus Computing Project says it all: "Still Doing More With Less." In a survey of 128 community college campus presidents and district chancellors for the report, 94 percent of respondents said…

The 1947 President's Commission on Higher Education offers insight into higher education policy in the United States. This article reviews and assesses the adoption of its policy recommendations in two key areas: 1) improving college access and equity and 2) expanding the role of community colleges. (Contains 1 figure and 4 notes.)

The "System Strategic Plan for the California Community Colleges" provides a comprehensive road map for restoring student access and improving student success. The Plan addresses the major demographic, economic and educational challenges that California will face over the coming decades. It presents clear system goals, specific…

The national college completion agenda is in full swing but the role of "community" colleges in that agenda is under-appreciated. With a large share of projected job openings requiring college education of less than a bachelor's degree and offering family-supporting wages, the nation's community colleges can make a huge contribution…

The Obama Administration has helped articulate the important role community colleges play in educating the nation's workforce and boosting the economy. With a large share of projected job openings requiring college education of less than a bachelor's degree and offering family-supporting wages, the nation's community colleges can make a huge…

In times of economic uncertainty, community colleges have consistently turned to the experience of past generations as an avenue toward innovation and the modernization of their programs and services. Community colleges have been able to continuously reinvent themselves to serve the ever-changing needs of society. With President Obama's increased…

In January 2010, the General Assembly passed the Complete College Tennessee Act (CCTA), a comprehensive reform agenda seeking to transform public higher education through changes in academic, fiscal, and administrative policies at the state and institutional levels. While the higher education landscape has been shaped by the CCTA, it is also…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the annual revenue received by United States public Community College Foundations from 2008-2009 in relation to selected variables associated in the literature with successful foundation performance. This study also collected longitudinal data by replicating and expanding upon a similar study…

This article will address important puzzles about community colleges and their roles with baccalaureate delivery. To that purpose, the article is organized into five key sections. First, the rationale underlying the community college baccalaureate (CCB) and key policy issues will be described. Second, a glossary of terms will be offered to provide…

Because of the increasingly prominent role of foundations in supporting improved opportunities for community college students, it may be helpful to understand how foundations set priorities and make decisions. Some foundations engage in responsive grant making, whereby they outline priority areas and then respond to proposals received from the…

The 2010 Acts of the Assembly, Chapter 874, directs the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) to conduct a study on state financial aid. In support of this directive, SCHEV conducted a series of meetings with representatives from each public four-year college or university, Richard Bland College, and representatives from the…

West Virginia Code §18B-1D-8 statutorily mandates the West Virginia Higher Education Report Card. This annual accountability report provides year-end higher education statistics for both of the state's higher education systems, the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (Commission) and West Virginia Council for Community and Technical…

This overview of postsecondary education in the United States reviews the dramatic changes over the past fifty years in the students who go to college, the institutions that produce higher education, and the ways it is financed. The article, by Sandy Baum, Charles Kurose, and Michael McPherson, creates the context for the articles that follow on…

Achieving national goals for increased college completion in a time of scarce resources will require the postsecondary institutions that enroll the majority of undergraduates--community colleges and less-selective public universities--to graduate more students at a lower cost. Davis Jenkins and Olga Rodriguez examine research on how these…

The statute [T.C.A. Section 49-7-202(c)(7)] requires the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to prepare a biennial report for the governor and the general assembly, "commenting upon major developments, trends, new policies, budgets and financial considerations which in the judgment of the commission will be useful to the governor and to the…