NOTES AND SOURCES

The data reported on this website reflect only the responses provided by colleges that participated in the survey and may not be representative of all community and technical colleges. Responding colleges reported data on their students, programs and employer partners, and our findings average those individual college responses. Colleges could pass over survey questions they were unable to answer; missing responses were excluded from calculated percentages. Percentages may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding. All questions in the study asked about fiscal year 2019. For a full discussion of the survey methodology, see http://opportunityamericaonline.org/wrdataandmethodology/.

TOP FINDINGS

Community colleges educate more people than coding boot camps, apprenticeship programs and government job training combined

  • All data are for 2019.
  • Source: Course Report, 2020 Coding Bootcamp Market Size Study; US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, “PY 2019 WIOA National Performance Summary”; US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, “Registered Apprenticeship National Results, FY2019”; and Opportunity America’s calculation based on Opportunity America community college survey and American Association of Community Colleges, “Fast Facts 2021.”

Students come to community college pursuing a variety of goals

  • N = 445 responding colleges. Data include noncredit students in customized contract training.
  • In the context of credit education, “job-focused” refers to enrollments by students with declared majors in fields of study determined by the US Department of Education’s Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) taxonomy to be occupational education. Enrollments by students with declared majors in other fields or who have not yet declared a major are considered “not job-focused.” (See US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Postsecondary Taxonomy,” https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/postsec_tax.asp.)
  • In the context of noncredit education, “job-focused” refers to enrollments in programs open to any qualified student enrolled in the college and customized contract training provided by the college on behalf of an employer. “Not job-focused” noncredit enrollments are students enrolled in all other types of noncredit education, including remedial, personal interest and other programs.
  • Source: Opportunity America calculations based on Opportunity America community college survey and National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, “Fall 2019 Current Term Enrollment Estimates,” https://nscresearchcenter.org/current-term-enrollment-estimates-2019.

Some community college students seek traditional academic credentials, other do not

  • N = 445 responding colleges. Data include noncredit students in customized contract training.
  • In the context of credit education, “job-focused” refers to enrollments by students with declared majors in fields of study determined by the US Department of Education’s Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) taxonomy to be occupational education. Enrollments by students with declared majors in other fields or who have not yet declared a major are considered “not job-focused.”(See US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Postsecondary Taxonomy,” https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/postsec_tax.asp.)
  • In the context of noncredit education, “job-focused” refers to enrollments in programs open to any qualified student enrolled in the college and customized contract training provided by the college on behalf of an employer. “Not job-focused” noncredit enrollments are students enrolled in all other types of noncredit education, including remedial, personal interest and other programs.
  • Source: Opportunity America calculations based on Opportunity America community college survey and National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, “Fall 2019 Current Term Enrollment Estimates,” https://nscresearchcenter.org/current-term-enrollment-estimates-2019.

Estimated number of students enrolled in noncredit programs

  • Our estimate of the number of noncredit students nationwide rests on two pillars: our survey findings and the American Association of Community Colleges’ (AACC) annual estimate of credit-eligible community and technical college enrollments.
  • The colleges that responded to the survey reported that in fiscal year 2019, credit-eligible students accounted for an average 65 percent of their unduplicated enrollments, while noncredit students accounted for 35 percent – a ratio of 1.85:1.
  • According to the American Association of Community Colleges, in 2019, there were 6.8 million students enrolled in credit education at public two-year colleges across the US.
  • Using that number and the ratio reported by the colleges in our sample, we estimate that 3.7 million noncredit students were enrolled in community and technical colleges that year.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey and American Association of Community Colleges, “Fast Facts 2021,” www.aacc.nche.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AACC_2021_FastFacts.pdf.

The noncredit division helps students meet many different needs

  • N = 445 responding colleges.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey.

Job-focused noncredit students are older

  • For noncredit workforce students, N = 259 responding colleges. Responses indicating age as “unknown” were excluded from calculated percentages.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey and Opportunity America’s calculations using US Department of Education National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 2015-16, accessed via PowerStats.

Job-focused noncredit students are more likely to be white

  • For noncredit workforce students, N = 230 responding colleges. Responses indicating race and ethnicity as “unknown” were excluded from calculated percentages.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey and Opportunity America’s calculations using US Department of Education National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 2015-16, accessed via PowerStats.

Some noncredit students later return to college to earn degrees

  • N = 348 responding colleges.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey.

Who pays for noncredit workforce education?

  • N = 311 responding colleges. The “state” category combines two survey responses: FTE or other state formula-based state funding and state grants. The “other” category combines four survey responses: Post-9/11 GI Bill funding or other military benefits, means-tested federal programs, foundation scholarships and other.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey.

EMPLOYERS AND INDUSTRY CERTIFICATIONS

Employer partners help colleges stay abreast of the changing labor market

  • N = 452 responding colleges.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey.

Most colleges maintain a mix of all four types of employer partners

  • N = 445 and 424 responding colleges.
  • One question in the survey asked colleges, “Of all the employers that engaged with your institution in fiscal year 2019, please estimate what proportion” were sponsors, advisers or partner/customers – and most colleges’ answers summed to 100 percent. A separate survey question asked, “Approximately how many employers that engaged with your institution in fiscal year 2019 provided customized contract training?” Some colleges may have counted some employers twice, and there may be some overlap in the data reported on partner/customers and contract training clients.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey.

A sign of strong industry partnership: the employer provides opportunities for work-based learning

  • N = 393 responding colleges.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey.

A growing number of credit and noncredit college programs prepare students to sit for certification assessments administered by noncollege industry groups

  • N = 446, 434 responding colleges.
  • Source: Opportunity American community college survey.

Credentials earned by noncredit workforce students

  • N = 351, 353 and 357 responding colleges.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey.

PUBLIC POLICY (INTERACTIVE STATE COMPARISONS)

Tools to ensure the quality and labor market relevance of job-focused noncredit programs

Who pays for noncredit workforce education

Share of colleges that collect data

Share of colleges which can leverage ‘most’ or ‘all’ prior learning 

STUDENTS AND PROGRAMS (INTERACTIVE STATE COMPARISONS)

Share of community college students in job-focused programs

  • N = 445 responding colleges. Data include noncredit students in customized contract training. Information on credit enrollments by field of study are not available for states with only one or two responding community or technical colleges.
  • For survey response rates by state, see http://opportunityamericaonline.org/wrdataandmethodology/.
  • In the context of credit education, “job-focused” refers to enrollments by students with declared majors in fields of study determined by the US Department of Education’s Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) taxonomy to be occupational education. Enrollments by students with declared majors in other fields or who have not yet declared a major are considered “not job-focused.” (See US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Postsecondary Taxonomy,” https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/postsec_tax.asp.)
  • In the context of noncredit education, “job-focused” refers to enrollments in programs open to any qualified student enrolled in the college and customized contract training provided by the college on behalf of an employer. “Not job-focused” noncredit enrollments are students enrolled in all other types of noncredit education, including remedial, personal interest and other programs.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey and Opportunity America’s calculations using data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Community college students by type of program

  • N = 445 responding colleges. Data include noncredit students in customized contract training. Information on credit enrollments by field of study are not available for states with only one or two responding community or technical colleges.
  • For survey response rates by state, see http://opportunityamericaonline.org/wrdataandmethodology/.
  • In the context of credit education, “job-focused” refers to enrollments by students with declared majors in fields of study determined by the US Department of Education’s Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) taxonomy to be occupational education. Enrollments by students with declared majors in other fields or who have not yet declared a major are considered “not job-focused.” (See US Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Postsecondary Taxonomy,” https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ctes/tables/postsec_tax.asp.)
  • In the context of noncredit education, “job-focused” refers to enrollments in programs open to any qualified student enrolled in the college and customized contract training provided by the college on behalf of an employer. “Not job-focused” noncredit enrollments are students enrolled in all other types of noncredit education, including remedial, personal interest and other programs.
  • Source: Opportunity America community college survey and Opportunity America’s calculations using data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Noncredit students by type of program