Report roundup

By AACC 21st Century Center Staff

A monthly roundup of reports of interest to the community college sector.

Here are three reports you should know about this month.

  1. Earning a few community college credits can benefit four-year college students’ academic, STEM and employment outcomes without increasing their student loan debt, according to a new report from the Community College Research Center (CCRC). Four-year college students who took one to 10 credits at a two-year college had a 4.5 percentage point higher bachelor’s degree completion rate than four-year college students who earned no community college credits, the report says. They also earned $1.40 more per hour. Researchers also looked at certain groups, including black and Latino students, low-income students and females. Each subgroup saw benefits from the additional credits earned at a community college.
  2. Graduates of baccalaureate programs at community colleges in Washington state had higher earnings, especially in the first year, than graduates of regional public four-year universities in the state who earned degrees in the same fields, a new study out of the University of Washington finds. Community college baccalaureate (CCB) graduates are also more likely to attain a job in their field, the report says. But earnings in their fields differed, depending on race and gender. Male graduates of both CCB and university programs earn more than their female counterparts in most fields. The study also found consistently higher earnings for white students among both CCB and university graduates.
  3. A Changing Landscape of Online Education (CHLOE) report focuses on the pivot to remote teaching that occurred this past spring. Seventy-eight percent of 308 online leaders from two- and four-year insitutions surveyed said the pivot to remote instruction at their institution was completely or largely successful in keeping students academically on track. However, many also recognized that improvements could be made to their remote courses, and that online courses fell short in terms of student engagement. This report is the fifth in a series of surveys on online learning conducted by Quality Matters and Eduventures.
AACC 21st Century Center Staff

is a contributor to the 21st-Century Center.