By: Amberly Dziesinski
Over the past 6 months, our team has been combing through state policy documents to better understand how community colleges are funded. We aimed to identify if, and how, states fund three different enrollment types: credit-bearing, noncredit, and dual enrollment students. We are excited to share the resulting report and accompanying interactive dashboard, published in partnership with the Association for Community College Trustees (ACCT).
We wanted to understand community college funding models because recent trends show community college enrollment stabilizing due to increased dual enrollment and noncredit participation. When community colleges are only funded for credit-bearing students, they are being asked to do more with less.
In fact, we find fewer than half of states fund all three groups.
As Steve Jurch, Associate Vice President of the Center for Policy and Practice at ACCT explained, “In order for our community college leaders to better advocate for funding models that would provide better support for their institutions, they have to know what is happening in their state and across the country.”
That’s where our interactive dashboard comes in handy. You can use this tool to engage with state-specific funding information as well as IPEDS data on state, local, and tuition revenue. For states that don’t currently cover dual enrollment or noncredit, this project includes specific policy examples to draw inspiration from.
This work represents a “first look” into funding policies by enrollment type. We hope it opens a conversation between researchers, college leaders, and policymakers to ensure community colleges are funded in a way that reflects their full enrollment mission.
Where can I learn more?
Navigate to the landing page for the project on the ACCT website. This page includes the report, policy inventory table, and interactive dashboard, as well as a pre-recorded webinar and podcast where we discuss key findings. You can also read an op-ed I wrote for Community College Daily. However you best take in information, we have you covered!
This work was generously funded by Lumina Foundation.