ERIC Number: EJ1310287
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0194-3081
EISSN: N/A
Accreditation Sanctions and Community College Enrollment
Burnett, Christopher A.
New Directions for Community Colleges, n196 p19-31 Win 2021
Higher education in the United States is regulated by a triad of the federal government, state governments, and private accreditors. Rather than relying on bureaucrats to ensure quality, federal policy defers such assurance to accrediting agencies. This empowers accreditors to determine which colleges can access financial aid and establishes their accountability role as quality signal. This article examines the relationship between accreditation sanctions and community college enrollment. Results show enrollment declines the year after a sanction and demonstrate a relationship between enrollment and graduation, retention, and transfer rates as well as published tuition and fees. Administrators at community colleges, especially those concerned with enrollment, may benefit by ensuring appropriate resources are devoted to accreditation efforts. Building an understanding of accreditation within their communities may also help colleges maintain enrollment. Sanctioned institutions may benefit from proactively engaging with their community and students about the sanction and how it will be remedied.
Descriptors: Accreditation (Institutions), Correlation, Community Colleges, Quality Assurance, Accountability, Enrollment Trends, Declining Enrollment, Sanctions, Graduation Rate, School Holding Power, College Transfer Students, Educational Resources, School Community Relationship
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2191/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A