Since 2010, online college course enrollment has increased by 29 percent. Currently, 6.7 million students--or roughly one third of all college students--are enrolled in online courses. Community colleges in particular have embraced online education as a way to better serve their large numbers of nontraditional students, many of whom juggle multiple responsibilities. In 2008, 97 percent of two-year colleges were offering online courses--compared with only 66 percent of all postsecondary institutions. Despite this rapid growth in online education, little is known about the effectiveness of online courses for community college students. Over the past two years, the Community College Research Center (CCRC) has sought to fill this gap in knowledge by conducting studies of online course outcomes at two large statewide community college systems, one in a southern state and one in a western state. (Contains 17 endnotes.)