Institutional Characteristics and Expenditures: Their Effects on Graduation Rates at Three Different Types of Community Colleges

ABSTRACT

Apart from awarding associate degrees, two-year colleges (also referred to as associate colleges and community colleges) may vary distinctly in their disciplinary focus. Certain institutions offer more courses geared toward specific career fields, while other two-year institutions offer courses to prepare students to transfer to four-year institutions. Existing studies on graduation rates, however, did not differentiate institutions with different curriculum contents. In 2015, a new Carnegie Classification of associate colleges was introduced to organize two-year institutions by main curriculum contents: High Transfer, Mixed Transfer/Career & Technical, and High Career & Technical. This study explored how the characteristics and expenditures of two-year institutions with different curriculum contents impacted institutional graduation rates. The results indicated that both the institutional characteristics and the degree to which they influenced three-year graduation rates varied across the three distinct categories of associate colleges. Based on the results of the study and the surrounding scholarly literature, recommendations for practice are provided.