U.S. News has just published the second edition of its online Community College Directory, which includes data on nearly 950 community colleges from 50 states, as well as the U.S. territories and associated states. These are colleges whose highest degree granted is an associate degree.
In order to be included in the directory, a school has to hold regional accreditation from one of the six regional accrediting organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. To ensure that institutions have met a series of high standards, U.S. News similarly requires U.S.-based schools to be regionally accredited in order to be included in our Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools and Best Online Programs projects.
All the data for each community college come directly from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, or IPEDS, website. Nearly all U.S. higher education institutions — including community colleges — are required to annually report a wide variety of education-related information to the U.S. government if they want their students to be eligible to receive Pell Grants.
Individual school data available in the U.S. News Community College Directory include location; financial aid and other details on paying for school; retention, graduation and transfer-out rates; student-to-faculty ratio; types of services offered to students; and a list of associate degree and certificate programs offered, among other details.
Below, U.S. News has also conducted a detailed demographic breakdown of the schools in the updated directory.
Geographic distribution : The five states with the largest number of community colleges in the directory are California (117), Texas (62), North Carolina (60), Illinois (48) and New York (39). The top 10 states with the largest number of community colleges had an aggregate of 468 schools, accounting for 49.7 percent of the total. There were three states with only two community colleges (Alaska, Indiana and Utah) and three states with just one community college (Nevada, Rhode Island and Vermont).
| State (top 25) | Number of community colleges in U.S. News directory |
|---|---|
| California | 117 |
| Texas | 62 |
| North Carolina | 60 |
| Illinois | 48 |
| New York | 39 |
| Minnesota | 32 |
| Michigan | 30 |
| Georgia | 29 |
| Ohio | 26 |
| Kansas | 25 |
| Virginia | 24 |
| Washington | 24 |
| Alabama | 23 |
| Arkansas | 22 |
| Pennsylvania | 22 |
| Arizona | 20 |
| New Jersey | 20 |
| Wisconsin | 18 |
| Kentucky | 17 |
| Massachusetts | 17 |
| South Carolina | 17 |
| Maryland | 16 |
| Oregon | 16 |
| Iowa | 15 |
| Mississippi | 15 |
| Missouri | 15 |
Community environment: Community colleges are located in many different types of locales around the U.S. Only 25.9 percent of the schools in the directory are in large cities or suburbs of large cities. Nearly 25 percent are in rural areas; 15 percent are in either small cities or a suburb of a small city; and nearly 12 percent are in either a midsize city or suburb of a midsize city.
| Community environment | Percent of community colleges in U.S. News directory |
|---|---|
| City: Large | 10.7% |
| City: Midsize | 8.4% |
| City: Small | 13.2% |
| Rural: Distant | 5.2% |
| Rural: Fringe | 16.9% |
| Rural: Remote | 2.3% |
| Suburb: Large | 15.2% |
| Suburb: Midsize | 3.4% |
| Suburb: Small | 2% |
| Town: Distant | 8.9% |
| Town: Fringe | 2% |
| Town: Remote | 11.5% |
| N/A | 0.3% |
Enrollment size: A majority of community colleges are small. Out of nearly 950 institutions in the directory, nearly 30 percent have enrollments of 2,500 or less and another 23.5 percent have between 2,501 and 5,000 students. Only 49 community colleges, or 5.2 percent, have enrollments between 20,001 and 50,000, and there are only five very large community colleges (0.5 percent) with enrollments of 50,001 or more.
| Enrollment size | Percent of community colleges in U.S. News directory |
|---|---|
| Under 2,500 students | 29.8% |
| 2,501 to 5,000 students | 23.5% |
| 5,001 to 10,000 students | 24.7% |
| 10,001 to 20,000 students | 16.2% |
| 20,001 to 50,000 students | 5.2% |
| 50,001 to 100,000 students | 0.5% |
Enrollment status: Nearly two-thirds of community college students attending schools in the directory are enrolled part time. This is not a surprise, since community colleges emphasize educating working adults.
| Enrollment status | Percent of students enrolled at community colleges in U.S. News directory |
|---|---|
| Full time | 38.4% |
| Part time | 61.6% |
Age distribution: Nearly 38 percent of those enrolled at community colleges in the directory are age 25 or older. As noted above, community colleges serve adult learners who need further education or additional workplace preparation. However, 62.2 percent of the students are age 24 or younger. These students are earning credits to transfer to four-year institutions or are obtaining job skills training through an associate degree or certificate program.
| Age | Percent of students enrolled at community colleges in U.S. News directory |
|---|---|
| Under 18 | 10% |
| Age 18 to 24 | 52.2% |
| Age 25 to 64 | 37.2% |
| 65 and over | 0.6% |
Gender distribution: Attending community colleges is a popular option among women, who surpassed men by 13 percentage points, accounting for 56.5 percent of the total enrollment at community colleges in the directory.
| Gender | Percent of students enrolled at community colleges in U.S. News directory |
|---|---|
| Men | 43.5 |
| Women | 56.5 |
Ethnic distribution: The ethnic breakdown of the community colleges in the directory doesn’t reflect the U.S. population in some key areas. White students make up 57.3 percent of the enrollment at community colleges, while they account for around 64 percent of the overall U.S. population. In contrast, there is a smaller percentage of Hispanic students (14.3 percent) and a larger percentage black students (13.9 percent) enrolled at community colleges than their respective shares of the overall U.S. population.
| Ethnicity | Percent of students enrolled at community colleges in U.S. News directory |
|---|---|
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 2.8% |
| Asian | 3.5% |
| Black or African-American | 13.9% |
| Hispanic | 14.3% |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| White | 57.3% |
| Two or more races | 2.4% |
| Race/ethnicity unknown | 4.1% |
| Nonresident alien | 1% |
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Analyzing Schools in the U.S. News Community College Directory originally appeared on usnews.com