Community College Students’ Goals

Eighty-six percent of students in community college associate degree programs surveyed expected to eventually earn either a bachelor’s or a graduate degree.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study  1996-2001 (BPS: 96/01) contains a number of questions that cast light on students’ intentions. Responses to the following question:  “What is your primary reason for enrolling in this school?”  reflect the varied objectives of community college students.  Respondents were given the following options:  to obtain job skills, to obtain a degree or certificate, transfer, or for personal enrichment. Fifty seven percent said that they want a degree or certificate or that they want to transfer to a baccalaureate institution.  Forty percent state that they want job skills or enrolled for personal enrichment, although they may also be seeking degrees as a means toward those primary goals.

In addition to the question on primary reason for enrolling, BPS:96/01 asked students during their first year of postsecondary enrollment:  “What is the highest level of education you ever expect to complete?”  The answer to this question would combine students’ aspirations and their judgments about what they expect to be able to achieve.  The results suggest that over the long run, community college students are very ambitious.  For example, 70 percent of all students starting their postsecondary education at a community college expect to earn a bachelor’s degree or more while 80 percent expect to earn at least an associate degree.  Even among students enrolled in certificate programs, 60 percent expect to earn at least an associate degree at some point.  When comparing the relationship of students’ stated primary reason for enrolling with long-term expectations we find a similar relationship of high expectations even if the immediate goals are modest.  Nearly 80 percent of students in community colleges whose primary reason for enrolling in their initial postsecondary enrollment was to gain job skills or for personal enrichment still expected to earn some credential in the long-term.  The vast majority of these credentials are associates or higher degrees.

More information on this topic will be available soon. For related research, see Access and Equity and/or Workforce Education.