How Noncredit Enrollments Distort Community College IPEDS Data: An Eight-State Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Romano ◽  
Mark D’Amico
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
New York ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
System Level ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Full Time Equivalent ◽  
Education Data ◽  
State Study

A commonly used metric for measuring college costs, drawn from data in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), is expenditure per full-time equivalent (FTE) student. This article discusses an error in this per FTE calculation when using IPEDS data, especially with regard to community colleges. The problem is that expenditures for noncredit courses are reported to IPEDS but enrollments are not. This exclusion inflates any per FTE student figure calculated from IPEDS, in particular expenditures and revenues. A 2021 IPEDS Technical Review Panel (TRP #62) acknowledged this problem and moved campus institutional research offices a step closer to reporting noncredit enrollment data (RTI International, 2021). This article is the first to provide some numbers on the magnitude of this problem. It covers eight states—California, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Data on noncredit community college enrollments were made available from system offices in all states. In addition, discussions were held at both the system level and the campus level to verify the data and assumptions. Figures provided by states were merged with existing IPEDS data at the campus and state levels, and then were adjusted to account for noncredit enrollments. The results provide evidence that calculations using IPEDS data alone overestimate the resources that community colleges have to spend on each student, although distortions vary greatly between states and among colleges in the same state. The results have important implications for research studies and college benchmarking.

Adjusting College Costs for Noncredit Enrollments: An Issue for Data Geeks or Policy Makers?

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-177
Author(s):  
Richard M. Romano ◽  
Rita J. Kirshstein ◽  
Mark D’Amico ◽  
Willard Hom ◽  
Michelle Van Noy
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Full Time Equivalent ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
College Costs ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Project Data ◽  
The Impact

Objective: In the first study of its kind, the impact of excluding noncredit enrollments in calculations of spending in community colleges is explored. Noncredit enrollments are not reported to Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), but expenditures for these efforts are. This study corrects for this omission and provides new estimates of spending on community college students in four states. Method: Data on noncredit enrollments were made available from four states—New York, New Jersey, California, and North Carolina. Interviews with campus and state officials within each state helped us verify the findings. In addition, Delta Cost Project data were analyzed and adjusted to account for noncredit enrollments. Results: Our analysis indicates that the expenditure per full-time equivalent (FTE) student measure, which researchers typically use, seriously overstates the resources that community colleges have to spend on educating students; however, great variations exist within and across states. Conclusion: Community colleges are underfunded to an even greater extent than standard IPEDS analyses indicate.

Factors Associated With Student Academic Achievement at Community Colleges

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongwei Yu
Keyword(s):  
Community Colleges ◽  
Student Retention ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Student Academic Achievement ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives

Student retention has garnered increased attentions in higher education. Drawing from various theoretical perspectives, researchers have developed multiple theoretical models to explain or predict student retention. Most models, however, were intended for traditional aged, full-time students at 4-year colleges or universities. The rapid growth of student enrollment at 2-year community colleges calls for further studies concerning student retention at these institutions. Built upon prior studies, I developed a conceptual framework to understand student credential completion at 2-year community colleges. Drawing data from Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and Beginning Postsecondary Students (BPS: 04/09) Longitudinal Study, I utilized multilevel modeling to identify variables that explain students’ likelihood of credential completion.

The Effects of the Expansion of For-Profit Colleges on Student Enrollments and Outcomes at Community Colleges

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 631-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adela Soliz
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

This study is the first large-scale examination of the impact of for-profit colleges on the enrollment and outcomes of students at other postsecondary institutions. Using data primarily from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and a differences-in-differences approach, I estimate the effect of a new for-profit college opening on community college enrollments and degree completions, as well as county education levels. My results suggest that community college enrollments and degree completions do not decline when a new degree-granting for-profit college opens nearby. Furthermore, I find evidence that the county-level production of short- and long-term certificates increases after a new for-profit college opens, though the number of associate’s degrees does not increase. This evidence should serve to broaden conversations about the role of for-profit colleges in the larger landscape of the American higher education system.

scholarly journals Heterogeneity of Older Learners in Higher Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phyllis A. Cummins ◽  
J. Scott Brown ◽  
Peter Riley Bahr ◽  
Nader Mehri
Keyword(s):  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Postsecondary Institutions ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Older Learners ◽  
Public College ◽  
Enrollment Trends ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Time Basis

Recent years have seen growing recognition of the importance of a college-educated workforce to meet the needs of employers and ensure economic growth. Lifelong learning, including completing a postsecondary credential, increasingly is necessary to improve employment outcomes among workers, both old and young, who face rising demands for new and improved skills. To satisfy these needs, many states have established postsecondary completion goals pertaining to the segments of their population ages 25 to 64 years. Although it is not always clear how completion goals will be attained for older students, it is widely recognized that community colleges will play an important role. Here, we use data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to examine enrollment trends by part-time and full-time status for students enrolled in Ohio’s public postsecondary institutions from 2006 to 2014. Unlike previous research that considers all students 25 and older as a homogeneous group, we divide older learners into two groups: ages 25 to 39 and ages 40 to 64. We find that adults in these age groups who attend a public college are more likely to attend a community college than they are a 4-year institution and are more likely to attend on a part-time basis. We discuss the implications of these trends and their relevance to college administrators.

Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander Student Progression through Community College: A Disaggregated Transcript Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (8) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Federick Ngo ◽  
Jenna Sablan
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Pacific Islander ◽  
College Persistence ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Developmental Math ◽  
Transcript Analysis ◽  
Asian And Pacific Islander

Background/Context Research on the postsecondary education of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) students has typically focused on attainment within four-year colleges and neglected the experiences of API students in community colleges. However, many API students pursuing postsecondary education, particularly Southeast Asian and Pacific Islander (SEAPI) students, do so through U.S. community colleges. The progress and achievement of these students in community college remains largely unstudied, due in part to the limited availability of disaggregated data. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study (1) To what extent do API students, and specifically SEAPI students, achieve community college progress milestones, such as enrollment, completion of gatekeeper courses, and attainment of degree- and transfer-applicable credits? (2) How are these students progressing through developmental math? Research Design We examine the academic progress of API students using transcript data from a large California community college district. The disaggregated race/ethnicity data allow us to focus on oft-overlooked API subgroups. Focusing on SEAPI students, we analyze momentum towards key college persistence and completion milestones. We also track progression through developmental math education, one of the key barriers community college students face in completing community college. Findings In our disaggregated transcript analysis, we find that SEAPI students are less likely than their peers to achieve college milestones such as completing math courses and earning the degree-applicable units necessary for degree completion or transfer. Seeking explanations for these differences within the context of developmental education, we observe that SEAPI students are significantly less likely than their peers to attempt developmental math courses, though the data suggest they are more likely to complete courses when they do attempt them. These relationships hold after controlling for differences in the demographic characteristics of these students. Conclusions/Recommendations These findings point towards non-academic and institutional explanations for lower rates of college persistence and completion and offer direction for policy efforts and institutional practice to support these students.

scholarly journals Testing CREATE at Community Colleges: An Examination of Faculty Perspectives and Diverse Student Gains

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. ar8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristy L. Kenyon ◽  
Morgan E. Onorato ◽  
Alan J. Gottesman ◽  
Jamila Hoque ◽  
Sally G. Hoskins
Keyword(s):  
Community College ◽  
New York ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Epistemological Beliefs ◽  
The United States ◽  
City College ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
Thinking Ability ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The City

CREATE (Consider, Read, Elucidate the hypotheses, Analyze and interpret the data, and Think of the next Experiment) is an innovative pedagogy for teaching science through the intensive analysis of scientific literature. Initiated at the City College of New York, a minority-serving institution, and regionally expanded in the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania area, this methodology has had multiple positive impacts on faculty and students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics courses. To determine whether the CREATE strategy is effective at the community college (2-yr) level, we prepared 2-yr faculty to use CREATE methodologies and investigated CREATE implementation at community colleges in seven regions of the United States. We used outside evaluation combined with pre/postcourse assessments of students to test related hypotheses: 1) workshop-trained 2-yr faculty teach effectively with the CREATE strategy in their first attempt, and 2) 2-yr students in CREATE courses make cognitive and affective gains during their CREATE quarter or semester. Community college students demonstrated positive shifts in experimental design and critical-thinking ability concurrent with gains in attitudes/self-rated learning and maturation of epistemological beliefs about science.

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