We are excited to publish Data Note 10 in the New Baccalaureate series, titled Washington State Community College Baccalaureate Students: How Life Experiences Shape Baccalaureate Education, Employment and Economic Security and authored by Lia Wetzstein, Elizabeth Apple Meza and Debra Bragg. It presents results from qualitative interviews with community college baccalaureate (CCB) students in Washington state. We use in-depth, longitudinal interview data to describe three CCB students’ experiences prior to CCB-program enrollment and through their programs to graduation and employment. The three students we profile credit community colleges by giving them an option to complete a baccalaureate degree that was previously unavailable to them. They perceive that their CCB degrees contribute to improved employment and career opportunities that then lead to greater economic and personal stability. This reality is particularly relevant as many workers face long-term unemployment and financial insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Category: New Baccalaureate
Transition Coming for CCRI
Welcome Dr. Lia Wetzstein, our new Acting Director of CCRI
We’ve seen tremendous change in education and the economy since Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) opened its doors on May 1, 2016. Since those early days, we at CCRI have used our research skills to study policy and program improvements to transfer and baccalaureate attainment, always seeking to advance equity in community college reform. We’ve accomplished a lot over these last four years and more good things are coming.
In this August 2020 newsletter, we spotlight our New Directions for Community Colleges on “Transfer Partnerships for Improved Equity and Outcomes” just published by Wiley, thanks to NDCC editor and colleague, Pamela Eddy at William & Mary. I am grateful to my co-editors Theresa Ling Yeh, Lia Wetzstein, and Elizabeth Apple Meza who authored chapters and encouraged authors in Colorado, Minnesota, Ohio and Washington to write about their efforts to ensure more equitable bachelor’s degree completion for community college transfer students. This focus on equity threads through all of our work, undergirding our decisions about what thorny issues to study and problems to help solve.
We are also wrapping up the first phase of our research on community college baccalaureates (CCB) with our partner, the Center on Education and Skills at New America (CESNA), where I am a Fellow for Community College Education. CCRI’s collaboration with Mary Alice McCarthy, CESNA’s director, and her colleagues Iris Palmer and Ivy Love, has created a treasure trove of briefs, blogs and materials on state and institutional adoption of CCB degrees in states across the country. Delving deepest in CCB attainment, employment and wages in Florida and Washington, we are expanding knowledge on the CCB in substantive ways. I am so proud of our work, and I look forward to seeing where our collaboration will take us in the future.
Most importantly, we welcome new leadership for CCRI at UW. At the end of August, I will step back from my director role to pass the baton to Dr. Lia Wetzstein. Dr. Wetzstein has received her UW Service Award for dedicating 20 years of her professional career to the University of Washington. Lia has been a thought leader since joining the team, and she has the vision and energy needed for this important transition. Lia was the first research scientist that I hired for CCRI, and she has been a dedicated collaborator and creative contributor ever since. Many more good things are coming for CCRI as the team’s plans evolve, and I urge you to remain an integral part of the journey.
I am pleased to recognize another transition that is happening at this time. Starting July 1 Elizabeth Apple Meza, Senior Research Scientist, joined Grant Blume, Senior Lecturer, in the Evan’s School for Public Policy and Governance to work on an exciting initiative focusing on data-driven decision-making. Their grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) supports a partnership with Washington community and technical colleges to study and support data use by faculty for program improvement. Their group is actively pursuing partnerships in and beyond Washington to grow this exciting work.
I want to thank colleagues across UW who gave me the opportunity to serve the citizens of our great state. Special thanks to UW President Ana Mari Cauce for seeing the value of my work and to Janice DeCosmo, Ed Taylor, and Christine Muongchanh for creating a home for it to flourish. I am also very grateful to the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) for partnering with CCRI. To Jan Yoshiwara, Kristi Wellington-Baker and countless others, I express pride in our shared accomplishments. I also share my gratitude with CCRI team members during my tenure, Elizabeth Apple Meza, Grant Blume, Tim Harmon, Katie Kovacich, Joe Lott, James Siap, Maria Claudia Soler, Jaylen Willingham, Theresa Ling Yeh, and William Zumeta. Every one of you is an incredible talent and true blessing to UW and Washington state.
Finally, to colleagues, family and friends back in my home state of Illinois, I’m giving you fair warning that I’m coming back to the place my love for community colleges began and evolved over many years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. My passion for Illinois’ deep commitment to addressing systemic inequities to improve all of education couldn’t be stronger, and I very much look forward to working with you again.
Sincerely,
Debra Bragg
Founding Director, CCRI
Growth in Enrollment and Completion of STEM Community College Baccalaureate Degrees in Washington State
Washington State is experiencing substantial growth in the number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Community College Baccalaureate (CCB)1 programs. Student enrollments in STEM CCB programs are also growing, providing an opportune time to study these students and their enrollment in and completion of STEM CCB programs. This research on STEM CCB programs shows women complete degrees at nearly the same rate as men but female enrollments lag behind state and national statistics for STEM education. More closely reflecting national trends, the research shows disparities in enrollment by and completion of students of color compared to white and Asian students, though STEM CCB enrollees are more diverse than STEM enrollees in universities. Understanding these student demographics is important to informing state and institutional policy on STEM education where demand for STEM workers continues to grow in the state.
Our Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) group at the University of Washington has partnered with New America’s Center on Education and Skills (CESNA) to refresh and expand understanding of AB and CCB degrees nationally, looking again at state adoption and implementation of these degrees in the two- and four-year institutional contexts. With generous support from the Joyce Foundation and Lumina Foundation, our two-year project documents policies and processes; develops a set of consensus design principles and frameworks featuring evidence-based and equity-focused promising policies and practices on state adoption and institutional implementation; and disseminates lessons from past successes and failures.
Community College Baccalaureate Degree Completion in Washington
Complimenting an earlier data note on enrollment by Meza (2019), results of this data note examine the completion rates of students in Community College Baccalaureate (CCB) programs in Washington state by program area and student demographics. We find CCB degree completion rates are rising and now approach the baccalaureate completion rates for students transferring from a community college to a public four-year university in Washington state. This is notable as the CCB student population includes students who are older and more likely to be underserved by higher education than the transfer student group. Our results also show CCB degree completion rates vary by program area and student demographics, with completion rates for Latinx students of 66 percent and rivaling the completion rates of White and Asian students in the Business program area. However, equity gaps exist in degree completion in other CCB program areas that need to be addressed.
Our Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) group at the University of Washington has partnered with New America’s Center on Education and Skills (CESNA) to refresh and expand understanding of AB and CCB degrees nationally, looking again at state adoption and implementation of these degrees in the two- and four-year institutional contexts. With generous support from the Joyce Foundation and Lumina Foundation, our two-year project documents policies and processes; develops a set of consensus design principles and frameworks featuring evidence-based and equity-focused promising policies and practices on state adoption and institutional implementation; and disseminates lessons from past successes and failures.
How Do Students Earning CCB Degrees Compare to Their Peers at Public Universities in Washington State?
This data note explores the extent to which the student population earning baccalaureate degrees at community and technical colleges mirrors the demographic characteristics of the student population earning baccalaureate degrees in comparable programs of study offered by four public universities in Washington State. Demographic analysis reveals important differences between these two student populations, both broadly and in the specific program areas of business administration and nursing. Among business administration degree earners, for instance, compared to men a substantially higher proportion of women earn CCB degrees (56.6%) relative to women earning baccalaureate degrees in business at public universities (45.8%). In terms of racial diversity, the entire population of CCB degree earners is more diverse than university baccalaureate earners, especially among African American and Latinx students. These results provide important preliminary evidence of the extent to which CCB policy serves as a policy lever to increase gender and racial diversity in baccalaureate attainment in Washington State.
Our Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) group at the University of Washington has partnered with New America’s Center on Education and Skills (CESNA) to refresh and expand understanding of AB and CCB degrees nationally, looking again at state adoption and implementation of these degrees in the two- and four-year institutional contexts. With generous support from the Joyce Foundation and Lumina Foundation, our two-year project documents policies and processes; develops a set of consensus design principles and frameworks featuring evidence-based and equity-focused promising policies and practices on state adoption and institutional implementation; and disseminates lessons from past successes and failures.
Updating the national landscape: State adoption of community college baccalaureate degrees
CCRI Research Affiliate, Maria Claudia Soler, authors the third data note on the project Scaling Community College Baccalaureate Degrees: The Equity Imperative. The goal of this research is to examine degree-granting policies, institutional adoption and program implementation related to community college baccalaureate (CCB) degrees in the United States. Given the changing policy context across the nation, this data note provides an update on the current national landscape and offers additional information about CCB policy and program implementation. Trends in authorization of CCB degrees and implications for equity and diversity are also discussed.
TRENDS IN STATE POLICY ADOPTION OF CCB DEGREES
Since the turn of the century, the organizational structure of community colleges has changed, mainly in response to the shifting needs of the communities they serve (Townsend & Dougherty, 2006; Vaughan, 2006). Transforming some elements of college curriculum and credentialing at the community college level by authorizing the conferral of baccalaureate degrees is one change that has been unfolding for the past three decades. Bachelor’s degrees offered by community and technical colleges eliminate a student’s need to transfer to a different institution to advance beyond the associate degree. These degrees have existed on a relatively modest level for many years, but recently they have begun to expand to more states. Understanding the prevalence of CCB policies and programs is central to the analysis our team is conducting on the expansion of different forms of baccalaureate degrees conferred at two-year and four-year institutions.
For more information about state policy adoption of CCB degrees, read the full data note below.
Our Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) group at the University of Washington has partnered with New America’s Center on Education and Skills (CESNA) to refresh and expand understanding of AB and CCB degrees nationally, looking again at state adoption and implementation of these degrees in the two- and four-year institutional contexts. With generous support from the Joyce Foundation and Lumina Foundation, our two-year project documents policies and processes; develops a set of consensus design principles and frameworks featuring evidence-based and equity-focused promising policies and practices on state adoption and institutional implementation; and disseminates lessons from past successes and failures.
Upcoming conferences to hear from CCRI!
Competency-Based Education Network’s (C-BEN) CBExchange 2019 Conference, Palm Springs, CA, October 24, 2019. Learning and Leading Forward: Research-based Lessons to Enhance CBE 2.0 for Working Adults at Salt Lake Community College, Eric Heiser, Dean, Salt Lake Community College, Debra Bragg, President, Bragg & Associates, Inc.
This session presents evaluation results from a Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Act Community College and Career Training grant at Salt Lake Community College (SLCC). Drawing on the experiences of the SLCC leadership and the evaluation team, this session provides lessons learned on the conversion of over 20 programs to CBE. Implications for scaling CBE throughout SLCC are discussed, including highlighting how the CBEN Quality Framework is being as a blueprint for scaling CBE college-wide.
2019 Annual Applied Baccalaureate Conference at noon on Monday, November 4, Green River College. CCRI Director, Debra Bragg, will give a keynote titled Opening the Door to Baccalaureates: Results of a New National Study on Access, Equity, and Outcomes of Community College Baccalaureates.
ASHE – The 44th annual Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference, Portland, November 13-16, 2019. We’d love to see you at our sessions! View the program for presentation details.
Congratulations to Kandi Bauman, CCRI Graduate Research Assistant and UW PhD student! Kandi was selected to attend the Graduate Student Policy Seminar at ASHE 2019. The seminar provides graduate students with opportunities to interact with researchers, policy-shapers, and policymakers who are knowledgeable about critical public policy issues related to higher education. The seminar also offers participants an opportunity to engage other advanced graduate students with similar interests and ambitions from universities across the nation.
Advancing Evidenced-Based Policy: Meta-Analysis Findings from TAACCCT. Fri, November 15, 3:45 to 5:00pm, Hilton Portland Downtown, Floor: Ballroom, Grand Ballroom Parlor A. Grant Blume, CCRI Affiliate Faculty; Elizabeth Apple Meza, CCRI Research Scientist; Ivy Love, New America Policy Analyst and Debra Bragg, CCRI Director will present a paper on the United States Department of Labor’s (DOL) TAACCCT program, which represented an unprecedented federal investment in community colleges. This study reports results of a meta-analysis on the extent to which federal grants increased the likelihood of positive educational and employment outcomes at the nation’s community colleges.
A Spectrum of Partnerships: Intentional Collaborations to Improve Transfer Outcomes. Saturday, November 16, 1:30–2:45 pm, Hilton Portland Downtown, 3rd Forum: Exploring University Partnerships & Collaborations. Theresa Ling Yeh, CCRI Research Scientist, and Lia Wetzstein, CCRI Associate Director will be discussing how community college and four-year university partnerships that focus on improving transfer outcomes are critical to advancing equity, as many underserved populations pursue baccalaureate degrees through community colleges. This paper examines qualitative data from a mixed-methods study and proposes a typological continuum of ways in which transfer partnerships can be enacted.
Career Pathway Programs: Building Connections Between College, Employment, and Careers. Sat, November 16, 10:15 to 11:30 am, Hilton Portland Downtown, Floor: Plaza, Broadway I. As the number of career pathway programs in community colleges has grown, research has examined the effects of pathway models on higher education program development and student outcomes. Debra Bragg, CCRI Director presents this paper as part of a panel summarizing the findings of recent research on career pathways, including two case studies of career pathways programs.
2019 Northwest Commission for Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) Annual Conference at noon on Wednesday, November 20, Hyatt Regency, Seattle, WA. Debra Bragg, CCRI Director, to give a keynote focusing on The Equity Imperative for Higher Education.
Washington Monthly Features Community College Baccalaureate Degrees
Check out the August 2019 issue of Washington Monthly for research from CCRI on community college baccalaureate degrees. In this issue, Mary Alice McCarthy, director of the Center on Education and Skills at New American, and Debra Bragg, director of CCRI, present personal stories, new results on student demographics by program, and other insights into this growing trend.
The Community College Baccalaureate in Washington: Who Enrolls?
This second Data Note, on the Scaling Community College Baccalaureate Degrees: The Equity Imperative research project, provides a look into the factors that contribute to baccalaureate degree expansion, particularly in associate degree-granting institutions in a growing number of states.
Our Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI) group at the University of Washington has partnered with New America’s Center on Education and Skills (CESNA) to refresh and expand understanding of AB and CCB degrees nationally, looking again at state adoption and implementation of these degrees in the two- and four-year institutional contexts. With generous support from the Joyce Foundation and Lumina Foundation, our two-year project documents policies and processes; develops a set of consensus design principles and frameworks featuring evidence-based and equity-focused promising policies and practices on state adoption and institutional implementation; and disseminates lessons from past successes and failures.
Three Keys to Launching Bachelor’s Programs at a Community College
We’re pleased to share a recent article on expanding community college baccalaureate programs written by Ivy Love, a policy analyst with one of our partners, the Center on Education & Skills, New America (CESNA), published by the online higher education newspaper, EvoLLLution , June 12. We found these insights informative and hope you and your colleagues at colleges who are looking to launch bachelor’s programs do as well.