Community colleges are a primary gateway for students to obtain an affordable and high-quality postsecondary education. Community colleges struggle to meet this mission, however, because they are underfunded. Institutional leaders also need better information on how to allocate available resources in service of improved outcomes. The field lacks established methodologies and accurate estimates of the costs associated with supporting the full range of community college students to credential attainment. It also is stymied by a dearth of research on the costs of implementing evidence-based practice and policy.
This project will begin to address this gap by examining community college funding policy and institutional resources allocation in three states: Texas, California, and Ohio. The analysis will include an investigation of how states are utilizing federal resources and how they might be most effective in utilizing potential additional federal funds to increase credential attainment among all students. This project will provide tools, resources, and support to states as they work to reform and strengthen their community college funding regimes. To ensure robust uptake of these results, this project includes a range of activities to strengthen the field’s capacity to utilize the research findings and planning tools, and to engage the research, advocacy, and policymaking communities to work collaboratively to strengthen community college finance systems nationwide.
This project is a partnership with the consulting firm HCM Strategists and is funded by Lumina Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Ascendium Education Group.