Search Results
Journal Article
At the Richmond Fed: Telling the Story of Community Colleges
Community colleges are an important part of the higher education landscape, offering unique educational and training opportunities to workers at all stages of their careers. Nearly half of American workers between the ages of 24 and 64 have attended a community college at some point in their lives.
Journal Article
District Digest: Community Colleges as Anchor Institutions in Rural Areas
The Fifth Federal Reserve District — comprising Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, most of West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. — is home to 122 public two-year institutions that have a wide range of both traditional academic and technical programs. More than half of these community colleges are located in rural counties. The 66 rural community colleges, like the private and public four-year institutions of higher education in rural areas, play an anchor institution role in their communities. But this role is not always accounted for in the formulas that federal, state, ...
Discussion Paper
Student Parents: The Power of Wraparound Supports
Many community college students juggle work and family responsibilities alongside their academic pursuits. Wraparound services — such as transportation assistance, child care, mental health counseling and housing — help students meet their non-academic needs, which improves colleges' retention and completion rates. These services also attract adult learners, a key population of community college students.As we have written about previously, funding wraparound services is complicated. Community colleges rely heavily on local, state, and federal funding for their academic programs, but this ...
Discussion Paper
A New Endeavor: Introducing the Fifth District Survey of Community College Outcomes
Community colleges play a major role in workforce and economic development in communities across the Fifth District. Their responsibility for educating and connecting individuals to jobs means that understanding their outcomes is important to how we think about our best path to maximum employment and sustainable economic growth.
Monograph
All Eyes on Texas: Community colleges focus on preparing the workforce of tomorrow
This report examines how Texas community colleges can fulfill their unique mission through measures including additional funding, greater outreach with business and recognition that many students seek specific skills training.
Journal Article
Community colleges and economic mobility
This paper examines the role of community colleges in the U.S. higher education system and their advantages and shortcomings. In particular, it discusses the population of community college students and economic returns to community college education for various demographic groups. It offers new evidence on the returns to an associate's degree. Furthermore, the paper uses data from the National Survey of College Graduates to compare educational objectives, progress, and labor market outcomes of individuals who start their postsecondary education at community colleges with those who start at ...
Journal Article
Upfront: New from the Richmond Fed’s Regional Matters blog
Multiple blog posts.
Journal Article
Upfront: New
Discussion Paper
Partnerships between Community Development Financial Institutions and Workforce Development Organizations
Inability to secure capital to improve worker skills or expand training programs can prevent growth in a local economy. This paper presents the role CDFIs can play to fill a need for financing in the workforce development sector. While the transactions presented in this paper are unique, they highlight the importance of partnerships between the two industries. Shared missions and an overlapping client base between CDFIs and workforce development practitioners creates a natural pairing for collaboration. In addition, CDFIs are uniquely able to serve as test beds for innovation because of their ...