Posted by: Richie Bernardo

University education is out of reach for many Americans, especially those from low-income households. But thanks to community colleges, higher education is more accessible than ever. Compared with public four-year institutions, where tuition and fees cost three times as much on average, community colleges offer an unbeatable value in terms of not just affordability but also quality.

Multiple states and numerous cities across the U.S. have even initiated “College Promise” programs that grant their residents free rides to community college. New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee are blazing the trail of this college-for-all circuit, while several other states, such as California, Illinois and Oklahoma, have introduced legislation to follow the same path. Such initiatives are proving to be more critical than ever, with public-college costs rising faster than private-college tuition rates and the need for post-secondary training in most jobs seeing steady growth through 2020.

Community colleges will be able to help meet that demand. In 22 states, these schools have expanded their offerings to include four-year baccalaureate programs in high-demand fields. Community-college students are even known to outshine their university peers. In an assessment of learning outcomes over a 10-year period, the Educational Testing Service found that “community college students caught up with and significantly outperformed students from liberal arts colleges … and made significant improvement in critical-thinking skills.”

Drawing on the findings of WalletHub’s analysis of the best and worst individual community colleges in the U.S., we present a state-by-state ranking of community-college systems below. Read on for the results and our detailed methodology.

1. Main Findings
2. Methodology

Main Findings Embed on your website<iframe src="//d2e70e9yced57e.cloudfront.net/wallethub/embed/15073/college-systems.html" width="556" height="347" frameBorder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe> <div style="width:556px;font-size:12px;color:#888;">Source: <a href="http://ift.tt/2xjCino;

 

Overall Rank	State	Overall Rank	State
1	South Dakota	26	Hawaii
2	Alaska	27	Virginia
3	North Dakota	28	Kentucky
4	Florida	29	Colorado
5	Montana	30	Tennessee
6	Wyoming	31	Oklahoma
7	Washington	32	New Jersey
8	Wisconsin	33	Massachusetts
9	Connecticut	34	Michigan
10	New Hampshire	35	North Carolina
11	Georgia	36	Texas
12	New Mexico	37	South Carolina
13	Nebraska	38	Maryland
14	California	39	Alabama
15	Iowa	40	Illinois
16	Arizona	41	Nevada
17	Arkansas	42	Indiana
18	Mississippi	43	West Virginia
19	New York	44	Louisiana
20	Maine	45	Ohio
21	Kansas	46	Oregon
22	Idaho	47	Pennsylvania
23	Utah	N/A	Delaware
24	Minnesota	N/A	Rhode Island
25	Missouri	N/A	Vermont

 

Methodology

In order to identify the best and worst community-college systems in the U.S., we drew upon the results of our analysis of 2016’s Best & Worst Community Colleges, which was conducted at the individual-school level across a sample of 821 institutions and 12 key metrics.

For our state-by-state analysis, we calculated a weighted average of the scores obtained by the community colleges in each state and the number of students enrolled in each school. We also took into account only the states that had at least two community colleges present in our sample of the Best & Worst Community Colleges in order to ensure comparability of results.

Please note that while three U.S. states have opened free access to community college — and several others have proposed legislation to create similar programs — actual disbursement of awards is not scheduled to begin until the current (2016 to 2017) academic year. As a result, we could not take into account the exact effect that the legislation will have on tuition rates. Subsequent versions of this report, however, will incorporate such data as they become available.

 

Sources: Data used to create these rankings were collected from the National Center for Education Statistics, Council for Community and Economic Research and College Measures.

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• Kristin Bailey Wilson Associate Professor of Educational Administration, Leadership and Research in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Western Kentucky University
• Jerry Rosiek Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Oregon
• Herman Walston Professor of Applied Human Sciences in the School of Education at Kentucky State University
• Gina Anderson Interim Associate Dean in the College of Professional Education and Professor of Curriculum & Instruction at Texas Woman’s University
• Cary Groth Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership at University of Nevada, Reno
• Brian Bourke Faculty Member in the Postsecondary Education Master’s Program, and Assistant Professor of Educational Studies, Leadership and Counseling in the College of Education & Human Services at Murray State University
• Beverly Doyle Associate Professor of Education at Creighton University
• Ahlam Lee Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies in the Department of Leadership Studies and Human Resource Development at Xavier University

Kristin Bailey Wilson Associate Professor of Educational Administration, Leadership and Research in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Western Kentucky University Do you think making community college tuition free will increase enrollment and graduation rates? No. To offer an overly simplistic example, if you offer someone thirty cents to purchase a candy bar that costs one dollar, can they buy the candy bar? At best, tuition represents between 30% and 40% of total revenue. Free sounds good to students, so free tuition means more high school graduates will attend community colleges; however, community colleges will not have the funding to build more classrooms or hire more faculty members. They’ll have thirty cents for every needed dollar. Typically, that means academic leaders build cheap academic infrastructure, such as online classes staffed by part-time or adjunct faculty members, or increasing class sizes and faculty teaching loads. The research suggests that such approaches to building academic infrastructure are not positively related to persistence or graduation. Free community college is political rhetoric; it is not a serious approach to increasing college participation and persistence. What can policymakers do to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges and the career prospects of graduates? Great training for employment is a three-way partnership between the research community, the industry, and the college. Community colleges with great industry programs are able to fund improvements to their facilities and equipment based on the current research; they’re able to develop their faculty to teach on current equipment using the industry-specified techniques; and they’re able to follow student progress into the industry in a loop that feeds back to the curriculum development process at the college. Policymakers interested in seeing these kinds of partnerships will need to fund them. They’ll especially need to think about how they can ensure colleges have the funding needed to update equipment and faculty training, while requiring accountability for that funding. It’s likely that this will need to happen at the industry level. Health care is different than manufacturing, which is different than construction and on and on. Funding partnerships that work will take industry-specific policy solutions. The standard governmental approach is to use grant funding. This ensures spotty development, and the funding often goes to the colleges that are already competitive. If we’re going to have wide-spread economic development, we’ll need wide-spread support for academic infrastructure. Should community colleges focus more on preparing graduates for the workforce--through career and technical education--or on preparing graduates to move to a 4-year college? Community colleges should do both. Community colleges are at their best when they are able to focus resources on student groups who have not had success in traditional PK-12 settings and in residential colleges. They also shine when they’re serving students who have significant family obligations or financial strain that prohibit moving away to college. Program development should be instigated by student interest and economic need. Whether a community college leans transfer or leans industry depends on the local demand. In evaluating the best and worst community college systems, what are the top 5 indicators? There’s no list of indicators that would capture the best and worst. Rather, leaders need to look at the entire picture. Here are the sorts of things that matter:

• Graduation rates;

• Transfer rates;

• Proportion of classes taught be adjuncts;

• Types of classes taught by adjuncts;

• Existence of support programs (e.g., tutoring, job placement services, services for populations like veterans and disabled, academic and financial advising, sustainability programs);

• Commitment to professional development for faculty and staff;

• Quality of infrastructure; program offerings (e.g., high wage/high demand programs);

• Work-life factors (e.g., faculty course loads, faculty governance, promotion and tenure, staffing levels).

In addition, some states and local communities have demonstrated a clear commitment to their community colleges. Often taking a look at the proportion of revenue provided by the federal, state, and local governments, as well as by students (often through federal financial aid), can offer insights into community colleges that find themselves positioned to develop in ways that meets community needs. An important point for policymakers, though, is to understand that spotty grant funding will result in spotty educational infrastructure development. Widely-spread economic development and job growth means investing in ways that support an entire community college system, not just a few colleges here and there. Often community college leaders know what works, but don’t have the funding to implement it. For example, integrating developmental education in math and English with vocational programs, such that students are co-taught by an industry expert and a math or English expert. However, it’s expensive. Jerry Rosiek Associate Professor in the College of Education at the University of Oregon Do you think making community college tuition free will increase enrollment and graduation rates? Of course, it will. The most significant barrier to post-high school educational achievement is lack of resources. Nothing else comes close. Yes, college education requires commitment and hard work. But it is not lack of will or commitment that prevents most people from completing degrees and programs. It is lack of time, money, transportation, and an inability to forgo income. What can policymakers do to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges and the career prospects of graduates? Lower tuition, and provide more direct state support to the schools. A stable source of funding will permit the institution to retain quality instructors and curricular programs through economic upturns and downturns. Right now, I would not advise anyone to seek a career as a community college instructor. We are not, as a community, adequately committed to the institution. Lowering tuition will permit more fluidity in the way students seek to improve their job prospects, making them more responsive to opportunities. It will make the commitment to a curricular path less of a risk. Should community colleges focus more on preparing graduates for the workforce--through career and technical education--or on preparing graduates to move to a 4-year college? They should do both. These two kinds of service are not mutually exclusive. There is and should always be coursework that serves both purposes. And the local economy needs both. Herman Walston Professor of Applied Human Sciences in the School of Education at Kentucky State University Do you think making community college tuition free will increase enrollment and graduation rates? Making community college tuition free will definitely increase enrollment -- why? Tuition at four-year institutions is already high and increases yearly. Academically prepared students will be able to complete their liberal studies/general studies in two years at a community college at no cost -- having saved money by not having to pay tuition will greatly increase enrollment. Will graduation rates increase? For those students who are academically prepared, many will enter community colleges and obtain a two-year degree and move on to four-year institutions to complete their other two years. So, with free tuition via community colleges, enrollment will increase, and graduation rates will increase due to more academically prepared students attending and completing two year general/liberal studies requirements in receiving a two year degree. Therefore, the graduation rates at community colleges would greatly increase. Should community colleges focus more on preparing graduates for the workforce—through career and technical education—or on preparing graduates to move to a 4-year college? Community colleges should continue to focus on preparing graduates for the workforce through career and technical education. Why? Career and technical education has proven to be very beneficial for those who are trained in highly skilled technical areas, without having to obtain a four-year degree. Many students in the workforce having received career and technical education have salaries that are higher than many individuals who have completed four-year degree programs. Community colleges should also have a track for those students who wish to become prepared for moving on to four-year institutions for degree completion. If community college tuition becomes free -- with an increase of academically prepared students who wish to complete their first two years at a community college -- than community colleges will need to develop tracks for both career and technical education, as well as a track for those who wish to complete general/liberal studies and move to four-year institutions for degree completion. What can policymakers do to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges and the career prospects of graduates? Appropriate more funding for professional development and training at the community college level, so that faculty who work with students will be able to provide the highest quality of education and training. Gina Anderson Interim Associate Dean in the College of Professional Education and Professor of Curriculum & Instruction at Texas Woman’s University Do you think making community college tuition free will increase enrollment and graduation rates? It will certainly impact enrollment rates, but it will not guarantee an increase in graduation rates. Retention of students extends well beyond enrollment. Factors such as the quality of students, quality of faculty and programs, advising practices, support services and student engagement contribute to retention and graduation. Community college programs often are very successful at providing access to core curriculum coursework, that typically leads to a two-year Associates Degree. What can policymakers do to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges and the career prospects of graduates? One way policymakers can improve the quality of education and training at community colleges is by providing incentives for the establishment of community college and four-year university partnerships. A four-year college degree is needed for the overwhelming majority of professional careers. By creating incentives for true partnerships between two-year and four-year institutions, resources can be maximized and a synergy can be created, that will improve the quality of education and promote greater career success for students. Should community colleges focus more on preparing graduates for the workforce--through career and technical education--or on preparing graduates to move to a 4-year college? Community colleges can provide both vocational and technical education, as well as prepare graduates to move to four-year universities. Seamless transfer pathways are crucial. Four-year universities provide upper division coursework taught by professors who conduct research in their fields of study. For example, in our College of Professional Education at TWU, we serve a large number of transfer students who become certified teachers through our educator preparation program. Our professors are both instructors and scholars, and contribute to the body of knowledge by conducting research, securing grants, and submitting professional journal articles, chapters, and books for publication. We provide specialized areas of study that can supplement a bachelor’s degree, such as English as a Second Language, Special Education, Bilingual Education, and STEM content areas. These areas of specialization and faculty expertise increase the quality of our programs, and thus the value of a college degree. Rather than duplicate programs already in place at four-year institutions, community colleges should focus on working with four-year institutions to compliment those programs. In evaluating the best and worst community college systems, what are the top 5 indicators? The success indicators are largely the same for both community colleges and four-year universities. Student engagement, quality programs, retention/completion/graduation rates, effective advising practices, employment status of graduates, and the value or “return on investment” are several success indicators that come to mind. For example, Texas Woman’s University recently ranked 2nd in Texas and 45th in the nation out of 1,275 four-year colleges and universities on the value of a TWU education, according to Economist magazine. 85% of our graduates are employed or enrolled in graduate school within 1 year of graduation, and our graduates have 5% less debt than the state average. Cary Groth Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership at University of Nevada, Reno Do you think making community college tuition free will increase enrollment and graduation rates? I do believe that making community college tuition free will increase enrollment, and potentially increase graduation rates. Hopefully, many states across the country are realizing the importance of Community Colleges and the services and opportunities they provide. We are fortunate that the 2017 Nevada Legislative session approved the Nevada Promise Scholarship, and we're just starting to imagine the possibilities that Nevada Promise opens up for Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC). According to the Data Profile captured by Education Alliance of Washoe County, about 40% of students graduating from local high schools have not enrolled in any higher education opportunities, and this is the population TMCC would like to capture. For students who have little or no savings for college, or those who don't qualify for Pell Grants or other statewide scholarships, the Nevada Promise Scholarship is a real opportunity to go to college. We certainly hope that this will bring students to us that might have not gone to college otherwise, which will result into additional enrollment gains. We are ready for these students, and are looking forward to serving them. What can policymakers do to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges and the career prospects of graduates? Our Nevada State Legislature, like other states, has had to make some tough budgetary decisions over the past decade, related to economic issues that permeated much of the country. However, in the last Nevada legislative session, we were fortunate to see strong support from the State for our workforce development efforts, and received additional funding. By supporting funding increases necessary to maintaining effective community college programs, policy makers help us meet workforce and community needs. TMCC creates skilled talent through our professional programs, so that our industry partners succeed and bring prosperity to our region and to our residents. As industry continues to move into our communities, educational opportunities to provide the needed skillsets for new jobs need to be available and supported financially by our state and our communities (partnerships/donors). A recent example of this is Tesla moving their operations to Northern Nevada. This was a successful move for our state, however, policymakers needed to recognize and support the educational programs needed at the Community Colleges, to support the employers’ workforce demands. Should community colleges focus more on preparing graduates for the workforce--through career and technical education--or on preparing graduates to move to a 4-year college? Workforce development and transfer preparation are two very important parts of the mission of community colleges. TMCC has always focused on quality education and assisting a student toward their educational goal, whether that goal is a career in a technical field, or a transfer, university prep, degree. The end result is the same: helping the student achieve success. The college offers a robust list of technical programs through the Technical Sciences Division, as well as traditional Associate of Arts and Associate of Science degrees which transfer to four-year institutions. In evaluating the best and worst community college systems, what are the top 5 indicators?

• High success rates of students, as measured in various ways (graduation and completion rates, subsequent employment, etc.);

• Responsiveness to the local and national economy;

• Innovative pedagogy;

• Modern facilities and cutting-edge technology;

• Diverse and robust instructional and educational pathways.

Brian Bourke Faculty Member in the Postsecondary Education Master’s Program, and Assistant Professor of Educational Studies, Leadership and Counseling in the College of Education & Human Services at Murray State University Do you think making community college tuition free will increase enrollment and graduation rates? Providing tuition-free access to community colleges would be a huge first step to improving education opportunity through access. However, we have to be careful about prematurely connecting access to enrollment to increased graduate rates. Community colleges need to ensure all student needs are met after they're enrolled. Also, as Sara Goldrick-Rab addresses it in her book “Paying the Price,” tuition is only a part of the overall cost of college attendance, and while eliminating tuition would be a huge benefit to many, removing tuition alone wouldn't make community college free. What can policymakers do to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges and the career prospects of graduates? Policymakers have to do a few things to improve quality at community colleges, and career prospects of graduates. First, there has to be collaborative work between state legislators and governors, to stop the bleeding when it comes to continual budget cuts to postsecondary education. Second, those same groups need to dedicate state monies to restore funding to pre-2008 levels. Third, since 2008 levels weren't all that great to begin with, legislators and governors need to manage state monies in ways that help institutions build capacity, not only to serve more students, but to serve them well. Should community colleges focus more on preparing graduates for the workforce--through career and technical education--or on preparing graduates to move to a 4-year college? Community colleges have very unique missions, as they play multiple roles. There's an aspect that governors of some states really try to hammer home, which is a push to enhance workforce development through community colleges. These workforce efforts center on career and technical education, which often center on filling specific workforce needs in business and industry in the immediate area served by the community college. Another primary function of community colleges is to provide a starting point for students who desire to transfer to a four-year institution to complete their baccalaureate programs. The transfer function is sometimes looked at more favorably, maybe because of the social desirability of bachelor's degrees. But, both are critical to the missions that community colleges strive toward. In evaluating the best and worst community college systems, what are the top 5 indicators?

• Faculty-student ratio;

• Fast access to student services, especially academic and financial advising;

• Academic programs meeting the needs of local communities;

• Absence of mission creep;

• Commitment to continuous quality improvement in all disciplines.

Beverly Doyle Associate Professor of Education at Creighton University Do you think making community college tuition free will increase enrollment and graduation rates? I think making community college tuition free will make it possible for many low-income students to attend college. Hopefully, if these students won’t have to be employed or work as much, a greater percentage will be able to graduate. What can policymakers do to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges and the career prospects of graduates? Industries and businesses need to be interviewed to determine what kinds of jobs are needed now, and projected to be needed in the future. In addition, information should be collected as to what skills workers may need further training in, to be competitive worldwide. This would assist community colleges in planning programs and curriculum. Should community colleges focus more on preparing graduates for the workforce--through career and technical education--or on preparing graduates to move to a 4-year college? I would say both are needed. Some students attend community colleges with the intention of transferring to a four-year college, because tuition costs are lower. However, technical education is also necessary, and should receive a major focus because there are fewer venues to receive training. Ahlam Lee Assistant Professor of Leadership Studies in the Department of Leadership Studies and Human Resource Development at Xavier University What can policymakers do to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges and the career prospects of graduates? First and foremost, policymakers should put themselves in community college students’ shoes. Namely, they should fully understand community college students’ backgrounds in terms of their challenges and needs. For example, almost half of all undergraduate students attending community colleges are non-traditional students: they juggle working part time and their studies, and many have family obligations. Also, many community college students are first-generation, from low-income backgrounds, and adults returning to school to obtain in-demand workforce skills or credentials. They are attending community colleges because of the open admission policy, low-tuition, and flexible class schedules (which can accommodate their work schedule). Education and training at community colleges enables them to achieve their career and life goals, which potentially contributes to the growth of middle classes. And without question, the growth of the middle class plays a vital role in boosting the nation’s economy. A recent report by the Pew Research Center (2016) showed that America’s middle class is shrinking. As such, this is a critical time to improve the quality of education and training at community colleges with the aim of meeting the career and life goals of community college students. Second, policy makers should promote the partnerships among community colleges, four-year universities, and business sectors. Specifically, academic partnerships between community colleges and four-year universities can allow community college students to earn course credits at four-year universities, which can potentially motivate them to transfer from two-year colleges to four-year universities. This academic partnership will be beneficial to four-year universities through recruiting students from diverse backgrounds; particularly STEM disciplines at four-year universities can fulfill the demand of STEM undergraduate students by recruiting community college students, concerning low student retention rates at four-year universities. Further, community colleges and business partnerships can provide community college students with training and networking opportunities, since students are expected to receive career and technical training as interns, or practicum students in the workplace. Such training opportunities can promote network building between community college students and employers. Such partnerships will be beneficial for employers as well: employers can provide their prospective employees with training programs tailored to their business needs. Should community colleges focus more on preparing graduates for the workforce--through career and technical education--or on preparing graduates to move to a 4-year college? Community colleges should provide students with both types of education programs. Handel’s (2011) literature review includes a survey that shows that nearly 50% of community college students are planning to transfer to four-year colleges and earn their bachelor’s degree. The flip side is that the other 50% of community college students are preparing for their workforce participation after graduating through career and technical education. As such, the curriculum for community colleges should be designed to provide their students with the two types of education programs tailored to the career and educational needs of both sets of students. As I noted in the previous question, partnerships between community colleges and four-year universities will provide a variety of educational opportunities to students who aspire to transfer and earn a bachelor’s degree. Moreover, community college and business partnership can play a critical role in improving the career and technical training program for students who are preparing for workforce. In evaluating the best and worst community college systems, what are the top 5 indicators? Synthesizing my responses to the above two questions, the top 5 indicators will be:

• Policy makers’ collaboration with diverse stakeholders in community colleges;

• The degree of integration of education and training programs with four-year colleges and the business sector;

• Transfer rate from two-year to four-year institutions;

• Employment rate after graduation;

• Student satisfaction about community colleges’ training and education program.

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