Valuable Learning or “Spinning Their Wheels”? Understanding Excess Credits Earned by Community College Associate Degree Completers
This paper documents the phenomenon of excess credits by examining the credit distributions of six cohorts of students in one state community college system.
Measuring Efficiency in the Community College Sector
This paper gives a preferred economic definition of college efficiency—fiscal and social cost per degree—and assesses the validity of using IPEDS data to calculate efficiency for a community college system.
Employer Perceptions of Associate Degrees in Local Labor Markets: A Case Study of the Employment of Information Technology Technicians in Detroit and Seattle
Based on fieldwork in two distinct labor markets, this paper compares how associate and bachelor’s degrees are perceived by employers seeking to hire IT technicians.
Predicting Success in College: The Importance of Placement Tests and High School Transcripts
This paper uses student-level data from a statewide community college system to examine the validity of placement tests and high school information in predicting course grades and college performance.
Do High-Stakes Placement Exams Predict College Success?
This paper analyzes the predictive validity of one of the most commonly used placement exams using data on over 42,000 first-time entrants in a large, urban community college system.