The community college sector plays a vital role in broadening access to education and helping states meet their workforce needs. An emerging trend and potential lever to better achieve these goals is the community college baccalaureate or CCB. Yet, opponents wonder whether CCBs may lead community colleges to abandon their traditional logics. This study attempts to help address this question.
Methods:
Using institution-level panel data, I employ various difference-in-difference approaches to estimate the impact of CCB adoption on overall enrollment levels, as well as the enrollment of historically underrepresented student populations.
Results:
I find that CCB adoption leads to significant increases in overall student enrollment; these results are robust to alternative specifications and control groups. Yet, enrollment-related impacts vary by selected student populations. I find no consistent evidence that CCB adoption shifts community colleges away from their commitment to underrepresented students, though there may be a tipping point not yet reached by current levels of CCB adoption.
Contributions:
These findings have important implications for policy and practice as institutional leaders and policy makers continue to debate, adopt, and implement baccalaureate programing at the community college level.
AngristJ. D.PischkeJ. S. (2009). Mostly harmless econometrics: An empiricist’s companion. Princeton University Press.
2.
AyersD. F. (2013). From governance to competitiveness: A diachronic analysis of the community college discourse oflocal. Critical Discourse Studies, 10(1), 99–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2012.744324
3.
AyersD. F. (2015). Credentialing structures, pedagogies, practices, and curriculum goals: Trajectories of change in community college mission statements. Community College Review, 43(2), 191–214. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552115569847
4.
BellE.WehdeW.StuckyM. (2020). Supplement or supplant? Estimating the impact of state lottery earmarks on higher education funding. Education Finance and Policy, 15(1), 136–163. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00262
5.
BemmelE. P.FloydD. L.BryanV. C. (2008). Perceptions and reflections of administrators: Community colleges transitioning to baccalaureate colleges. Community College Journal of Research & Practice, 33(2), 151–176. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668920802564923
6.
BenjaminiY.HochbergY. (1995). Controlling the false discovery rate: A practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 57(1), 289–300.
7.
BertrandM.DufloE.MullainathanS. (2004). How much should we trust differences-indifferences estimates?The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 119(1), 249–275. https://doi.org/10.1162/003355304772839588
8.
BilskyJ.NeuhardI.LockeM. G. (2012). The evolution of workforce baccalaureate degrees in Florida. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2012(158), 35–46. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20015
9.
BraggD. D. (2019, January). The evolving landscape for new baccalaureate degrees in the United States. Community College Research Initiatives, University of Washington. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED608158.pdf
10.
BraggD. D.SolerM. C. (2016). Shining light on higher education’s newest baccalaureate degrees and the research needed to understand their impact. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2016, 61–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.20185
CohenA. M.BrawerF. B.KiskerC. B. (2014). The American community college (6th ed.). Jossey-Bass.
14.
CuellarM. G.GándaraP. (2021). Promoting access and equity for underrepresented racial minorities? An examination of policies and practices in community college baccalaureate programs. Community College Review, 49(1), 52–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552120964877
15.
Daun-BarnettN.EscalanteS. (2014). Local influences of community college baccalaureate legislation on nursing and teaching degree production in Florida. Community College Journal of Research & Practice, 38(11), 1030–1043. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2012.729496
16.
DiMaggioP. J.PowellW. W. (1983). The iron cage revisiting: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101
17.
DoranE. E. (2015). Negotiative access and tier one aspirations: The historical evolution of a striving Hispanic-serving institution. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 14(4), 343–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/1538192715570638
18.
DowdA. C.ShiehL. T. (2014). The implications of state fiscal policies for community colleges. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2014(168), 53–63. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20120
19.
DynarskiS.Scott-ClaytonJ. (2013). Financial aid policy: Lessons from research. The Future of Children, 23(1), 67–91. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2013.0002
20.
ElueC. A.MartinezE. (2019). Show me the money: Examining institutional-based financial aid for baccalaureate degree–seeking students at rural community colleges. Community College Journal of Research & Practice, 43(5), 382–385. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2018.1470043
21.
FloydD.SkolnikM. (2019). The community college baccalaureate movement. In (Ed.), O’Banion 13 ideas that are transforming the community college world (pp. 103–126). Rowman & Littlefield.
22.
FloydD.SkolnikM.WalkerK. P. (2005). The community college baccalaureate: Emerging trends and policy issues. Stylus Publishing.
23.
FloydD. L. (2006). Achieving the baccalaureate through the community college. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2006, 59–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.248
24.
FultonM. (2015, April). Community colleges expanding role into awarding bachelor’s degrees. Education Commission of the States (ECS), Education Policy Analysis. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED556034.pdf
FurquimF.CorralD.HillmanN. (2020). A primer for interpreting and designing difference-in-differences studies in higher education research. In PernaL. W. (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. xxx, pp. 2–53). Springer.
27.
GándaraD.LiA. (2020). Promise for whom? “Free-college” programs and enrollments by race and gender classifications at public, 2-year colleges. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 42(4), 603–627. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720962472
28.
GershensonS.TekinE. (2018). The effect of community traumatic events on student achievement: Evidence from the Beltway sniper attacks. Education Finance and Policy, 13, 513–544. https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00234
29.
GonzalesL. D.AyersD. F. (2018). The convergence of institutional logics on the community college sector and the normalization of emotional labor: A new theoretical approach for considering the community college faculty labor expectations. The Review of Higher Education, 41(3), 455–478. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2018.0015
30.
Goodman-BaconA. (2018). Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing (No. w25018). National Bureau of Economic Research.
31.
GoodrickE.ReayT. (2011). Constellations of institutional logics: Changes in the professional work of pharmacists. Work and Occupations, 38(3), 372–416. https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888411406824
32.
GraweN. D. (2018). Demographics and the demand for higher education. Johns Hopkins University Press.
33.
GreenwoodR.RaynardM.KodeihF.MicelottaE. R.LounsburyM. (2011). Institutional complexity and organizational responses. The Academy of Management Annals, 5(1), 317–371. https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2011.590299
34.
GumportP. J. (2003). The demand-response scenario: Perspectives of community college presidents. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 586, 38–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716202250210
35.
HillmanN. W.OriansE. L. (2013). Community colleges and labor market conditions: How does enrollment demand change relative to local unemployment rates?Research in Higher Education, 54, 765–780. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-013-9294-7
36.
HurlburtS.PeekA.SunJ. (2017, May). Delta cost project database 1987-2015: Data file documentation. Delta Cost Project, American Institutes for Research. https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/deltacostproject/
37.
ImbensG. W.WooldridgeJ. M. (2009). Recent developments in the econometrics of program evaluation. Journal of Economic Literature, 47, 5–86. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.47.1.5
38.
IshimaruA. M.GallowayM. K. (2020). Hearts and minds first: Institutional logics in pursuit of educational equity. Educational Administration Quarterly. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161x20947459
39.
IvanchevaM. P.SwartzR.MorrisN. P.WaljiS.SwinnertonB. J.CoopT.CzerniewiczL. (2020). Conflicting logics of online higher education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 41(5), 608–625. https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2020.1784707
40.
KaikkonenD. A.QuarlesC. L. (2018). The effect on earnings of the applied baccalaureate degree. Community College Review, 46(4), 347–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552118782619
41.
KelchenR. (2018). Do performance-based funding policies affect underrepresented student enrollment?The Journal of Higher Education, 89(5), 702–727. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2018.1434282
42.
KelchenR.RosingerK. O.OrtagusJ. C. (2019). How to create and use state-level policy data sets in education research. AERA Open, 5(3), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858419873619
43.
KofoedM. S. (2017). To apply or not to apply: FAFSA completion and financial aid gaps. Research in Higher Education, 58(1), 1–39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-016-9418-y
44.
LevinJ. S. (2004). The community college as a baccalaureate-granting institution. The Review of Higher Education, 28(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.2004.0029
45.
LevinJ. S.AliyevaA.WalkerL. (2016). From community college to university: Institutionalization and neoliberalism in British Columbia and Alberta. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 46(2), 165–180. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v46i2.185905
46.
LevinJ. S.López DamiánA. I.MartinM. C.VázquezE. M. (2018). New universities’ organizational identities through presidential lenses. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 48(2), 20–38. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v48i2.188122
47.
LiA. Y.KennedyA. I. (2018). Performance funding policy effects on community college outcomes: Are short-term certificates on the rise?Community College Review, 46(1), 3–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552117743790
MakelaJ. P.BraggD. D.HarwellE. (2015, October). Applied baccalaureate degrees in STEM and technician education: Program implementation in five regions of the United States. Office of Community College Research and Leadership, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. http://occrl.illinois.edu/files/Projects/ab/ab-implementation.pdf
53.
ManiasN. (2007). The Baccalaureate community colleges in Florida: A policy evaluation [Doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database.
54.
MartinezE. (2018). Changes, challenges, and opportunities for student services at one baccalaureate degree-granting community college. Community College Review, 46(1), 82–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552117744049
55.
MartinezE. (2019). “The rules change”: Exploring faculty experiences and work expectations within a drifting community college context. Community College Review, 47(2), 111–135. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552119835022
56.
MartinezE. (2020). Trading inequities: Hispanic-serving community colleges and baccalaureate degree programs. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2020(190), 59–68. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20387
57.
MartinezE.AcevedoN. (2022). Access to what? Geography of opportunity and baccalaureate degree-granting community colleges in California. Community College Journal of Research & Practice, 46, 525–530. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2021.1932640
58.
McKinneyL.MorrisP. A. (2010). Examining an evolution: A case study of organizational change accompanying the community college baccalaureate. Community College Review, 37(3), 187–208. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091552109351185
59.
McKinneyL.ScicchitanoM.JohnsT. (2013). A national survey of community college baccalaureate institutions. Community College Journal of Research & Practice, 37, 54–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2012.711140
60.
MejiaJ. E. (2012). The applied and workforce baccalaureate at South Texas College: Specialized workforce development addressing economic development. New Directions for Community Colleges, 158, 47–56. https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20016
61.
NettlesM. T. (2017). Challenges and opportunities in achieving the national postsecondary degree attainment goals. ETS Research Report Series, 2017, 1–72. https://doi.org/10.1002/ets2.12141Educational Testing Service (ETS).
62.
NeuhardI. (2013). Evaluating Florida’s policy of expanding access through community college baccalaureate degrees: An analysis of enrollment trends, demographic characteristics, and systemic impacts [Doctoral dissertation, University of Florida]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database.
63.
OrtagusJ. C.HuX. (2019). The price of mission complexity: A national study of the impact of community college baccalaureate adoption on tuition and fees. Educational Researcher, 48, 504–520. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189x19872494
64.
OrtagusJ. C.HuX. (2020). A national study of the financial implications of community college baccalaureate adoption. The Journal of Higher Education, 91(7), 1053–1086. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2020.1738163
65.
OrtagusJ. C.KramerD. A.CanchéM. S. G.FernandezF. (2020). The impact of community college baccalaureate adoption on associate degree production. Teachers College Record, 122, 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146812012200108
66.
PacheA. C.SantosF. (2013). Inside the hybrid organization: Selective coupling as a response to competing institutional logics. Academy of Management Journal, 56(4), 972–1001. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.0405
67.
ParkT. J.TandbergD. A.ShimH. K.HuS.HerringtonC. D. (2018). Community college teacher education baccalaureate programs: Early evidence yields mixed results. Educational Policy, 32(7), 1018–1040. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904816682317
68.
QuirkeL. (2013). Rogue resistance: Sidestepping isomorphic pressures in a patchy institutional field. Organization Studies, 34(11), 1675–1699. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840613483815
69.
RosenbaumP. R.RubinD. B. (1983). The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika, 70(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/70.1.41
70.
RosingerK. O.BelascoA. S.HearnJ. C. (2019). A boost for the middle class: An evaluation of no-loan policies and elite private college enrollment. The Journal of Higher Education, 90(1), 27–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.2018.1484222
71.
RubinD. B. (1974). Estimating causal effects of treatments in randomized and nonrandomized studies. Journal of Education & Psychology, 66(5), 688–701. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0037350
72.
RussellA. (2013). Update on the community college baccalaureate: Evolving trends and issues. In RemingtonN.RemingtonR. (Eds.), Alternative pathways to the baccalaureate: Do community colleges offer a viable solution to the nation’s knowledge deficit? (pp. 67–82). Stylus Publishing.
73.
ScottW. R.BiagM. (2015). The changing ecology of higher education: An organization field perspective. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 46, 25–51. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20160000046002
74.
ShahV. J. (2010). An exploratory study of community college teacher baccalaureate alumni experiences. [Doctoral dissertation, Teachers College, Columbia University]. ProQuest Dissertation Publishing.
75.
SkelcherC.SmithS. R. (2015). Theorizing hybridity: Institutional logics, complex organizations, and actor identities: The case of nonprofits. Public Administration, 93(2), 433–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12105
76.
SkolnikM. (2011). Re-conceptualizing the relationship between community colleges and universities using a conceptual framework drawn from the study of jurisdictional conflict between professions. Community College Review, 39(4), 352–375.
ThorL. M.BustamanteC. (2013). The community college baccalaureate. In RemingtonN.RemingtonR. (Eds.), Alternative pathways to the baccalaureate (pp. 17–35). Stylus Publishing.
79.
ThorntonP. H.OcasioW.LounsburyM. (2012). The institutional logics perspective: A new approach to culture, structure, and process. Oxford University Press.
Vidal-RodriguezA. (2019). The impact of adopting a community college baccalaureate policy on states’ graduation rate and enrollment: A consideration for all and latino students [Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database.
82.
WalkerK. P.PendletonE. (2013). The history of the community college baccalaureate movement. In RemingtonN.RemingtonR. (Eds.), Alternative pathways to the baccalaureate: Do community colleges offer a viable solution to the nation's knowledge deficit? (pp. 7–16). Stylus Publishing.
83.
WryT.LounsburyM.GlynnM. A. (2011). Legitimating nascent collective identities: Coordinating cultural entrepreneurship. Organization Science, 22(2), 449–463. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1100.0613
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
