Most Colleges and Schools Offer a Mix of Credit and Noncredit Academic and Training Programs

The majority of community colleges and technical schools responding to  our survey reported offering a wide range of academic and training  programs in addition to their college credit curriculum. 1). While students were often enrolled in more  than one type of program, the median percent of students enrolled in  academic credit programs was 49 percent, and the median percent of  students enrolled in occupational, professional, or technical training  programs for credit was 33 percent. 2.) States report  continuing demand for remedial education. More than three-quarters of schools responding to our survey offered  contract training in the 2002-03 academic year. States Are the Largest Funding Source, but Many Schools Reported Receiving Less State Funding for Some Types of Noncredit Courses

State funding has been a major source of revenue for public community  colleges for years. Excluding federal student financial aid, federal funding provided about  5 percent of total public community college revenue between 1992-93 and  2000-01 as previously shown in figure 6. Differences in Community College and Technical School and State Data Collection Efforts Place Reliance on National Studies for Measuring Overall Student Outcomes

Most community colleges and technical schools responding to our survey  have systems in place to measure education and employment outcomes  for students enrolled in at least some programs, but differences in how  these schools and states measure and report such data preclude using  them to report nationally on the proportion of community college and  technical school students who graduate, transfer to 4-year institutions,  pass licensing examinations, or gain employment. The best national outcome data, which  stem from studies conducted by the National Center for Education  Statistics, show that between half and two-thirds of community college  students seeking an academic credential were successful in doing so or in  transferring to a 4-year institution within 6 to 8 years of enrolling in  community college programs. However, much less is known about the  outcomes of contract and noncredit training initiatives—and because  many of these efforts are customized to meet specific local employer  needs, national studies may not be the most appropriate methodology. The Survey

To document the academic preparation and workforce training programs  offered by public community colleges and technical schools, the students  they serve, the education and employment outcomes of former students in  these programs and efforts to measure outcomes, as well as to obtain  information on the state policies and federal funds that support schools’  workforce development activities, we conducted a Web-based survey of all  public, regionally accredited, less than 4-year institutions throughout the  country and received a 71 percent response rate.
Why GAO Did This Study

The goal of most American workers--a well-paying job--will be increasingly linked to adequate training in the coming years. Such training will be key to competing for the 21 million new jobs the Department of Labor projects will be created in the 2002 to 2012 period. People already in, or seeking to enter, the workforce often turn to the nation's more than 1,100 public community colleges and technical schools to obtain needed skills. Nearly 6 million students were enrolled in for-credit courses in the fall term 2000 and millions more participated in noncredit courses at these schools. GAO was asked to examine: (1) the extent to which community colleges and technical schools are involved in remedial education and workforce training efforts as well as academic preparation activities; (2) how state and federal funding support these academic and training efforts; and (3) what is known about schools' efforts to measure outcomes, including the rates at which students graduate, transfer to 4-year institutions, pass occupational licensing exams, and gain employment. The scope of our review included a Web-based survey of 1,070 public community colleges and technical schools, 758 (71 percent) of which completed the survey.

What GAO Found

The majority of community colleges and technical schools are offering a broad spectrum of academic and training programs--everything from traditional courses for degree-seeking students to remedial education and contract training customized for individual employers. In addition, 61 percent of schools offer noncredit occupational, professional, or technical training. States have long provided the greatest share of funding for public community colleges between 40 and 45 percent of schools' total revenue, while federal funding, exclusive of student financial assistance, has been much smaller about 5 percent. Most states provide more funding for credit programs than noncredit programs. Most community colleges and technical schools track some education and employment outcomes for their students, but differences in state reporting requirements preclude aggregating these outcomes nationally. However, national studies of representative samples or cohorts of students conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics show that between half and two-thirds of community college students seeking some type of academic or occupational credential succeed in transferring to a 4-year institution or earning a degree, license, certificate, or diploma within 6 to 8 years of initiating studies. GAO's survey indicated that more than half of students enrolled in remedial and 3 types of basic skills courses completed them successfully.