AACC periodically publishes reports and white papers about issues particularly relevant to community colleges.
Reports
Preventing Abuse in Federal Student Aid: Community College Practices (April 2012)
In this report, AACC shares practices that colleges have found to be successful in curbing financial aid abuse.
Fall 2011: Estimated Headcount Enrollment and Pell Grant Trends (December 2011)
After a number of years of enrollment growth at the nation’s community colleges, total headcount enrollments leveled off in fall 2011 from the previous year.
Report on the 21st-Century Initiative Listening Tour (August 2011)
President Barack Obama has challenged community colleges to educate an additional 5 million students with degrees, certificates, or other credentials by 2020. As state funding for education and other revenue sources continue to decline, now more than ever, there is a need to formulate innovative strategies to support this ambitious goal. In response to the president’s education agenda, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is leading advancement of the next era of community college evolution through its two-phase 21st-Century Initiative. Phase 1, the 21st-Century Initiative Listening Tour, consisted of gathering information from a diverse group of stakeholders from across the country in the following areas: (1) student success, (2) Voluntary Framework of Accountability, (3) strategies for dealing with budget constraints, (4) big ideas for the future of community colleges, and (5) what AACC can do for members.
The Completion Agenda: A Call to Action (April 2011)
The college completion challenge was the focal point of the November 2010 meeting of AACC’s board and commissions. Representatives from those bodies, as well as from the National Council of State Directors of Community Colleges, AACC’s Voluntary Framework of Accountability Steering Committee, and AACC-affiliated councils, rolled up their sleeves in focus groups to address four central issues related to the completion agenda: how to secure commitment, accountability for outcomes, developing a toolkit, and how to overcome obstacles to completion. The Completion Agenda: A Call to Action summarizes the key points emerging from the focus groups.
Community College Estimated Growth: Fall 2010 (February 2011)
This report summarizes findings from a recent AACC survey of community colleges. The report provides enrollment counts for credit enrollment 2000–2010. As the report shows, although enrollment has continued to increase, the rate of increase has slowed in comparison to previous years.
Noncredit Enrollment in Workforce Education: State Policies and Community College Practices (2008)
This report provides detailed findings on state policies and community college practice from Community College Research Center's (CCRC's) study of community college noncredit workforce education. Drawing on interviews with state policymakers in all 50 states and case studies of 20 community colleges in 10 states, the report offers recommendations for policy and practice. Noncredit workforce education can play an important role in responding to local labor market demands, while also connecting students to long-term educational opportunities and documenting outcomes in a meaningful way.
Funding Issues in U.S. Community Colleges: Findings From a 2007 Survey of the National State Directors of Community Colleges (2008)
Changing state revenues have prompted heightened concern about the immediate short- and long-term future and stability of state investments in higher education. Just what is going on in the field in terms of access, funding, and overall support for community colleges? These are the questions that originally spurred the need for a formal survey of funding issues in U.S. community colleges. This report summarizes the perceptions gleaned from community college state directors (or their designees) during the third administration of the survey in 2007. It is offered as a barometer of the current situation and future prospects for community college funding and access.
First Responders: Community Colleges on the Front Line of Security (2006)
Community colleges currently credential close to 80% of first responders and 60% of health-care professionals. Not so fully documented, however, is the colleges' expanding leadership role in homeland security through new programs, unique facilities, and working alliances. To gain a more complete picture of community college engagement, AACC undertook two important surveys in 2004. Findings from these studies - AACC's Hot Programs and Homeland Security Survey and Survey on Homeland Security and Related Issues - provided for the first time an in-depth look at these broad and varied activities and provided the basis for much of this report.
White Papers
Copyright Considerations In Distance Education and Technology-Mediated Instruction (2000)
In 1999, AACC published a white paper, "Copyright Considerations in Distance Education and Technology-Mediated Instruction." The white paper was updated in May 2000 to include recent changes in copyright law and the implications those changes have on higher education.
The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation for Community Colleges (1998)
Employment and training programs in the United States have evolved through several legislative incarnations since the early 1960s. The Manpower Development and Training Act of 1962, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 and the Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 (JTPA) were all major landmarks in the history of these programs.