State Policies to Achieve the Dream in Five States: An Audit of State Policies to Aid Student Access to and Success in Community Colleges in the First Five Achieving the Dream States

In 2003, the Lumina Foundation for Education launched a major initiative, “Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count,” to increase student success at community colleges. The initiative focuses on colleges with high enrollments of low-income students and students of color. In the first round, 27 colleges in five states were selected. The initiative aims to help more students succeed, while maintaining access to community college for groups that traditionally have faced barriers. A key means to improve the performance of colleges is through enhancement of their capacities to gather, analyze, and act on data on student outcomes, including data on students grouped by race, income, age, sex, and other characteristics. From the beginning, a central component of this effort has been state policy. In each of the states where Achieving the Dream colleges are located, the initiative is working with a lead organization (typically the state community college system office or state association of community colleges) to develop policies that will enhance student success. To help guide that policy effort, the Lumina Foundation commissioned an audit of state policy affecting access to, and success in, community colleges. An in-depth analysis was to be conducted of the initial five Achieving the Dream states (New Mexico, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia), to be supplemented later by a survey of all 50 states. This report summarizes that initial in-depth analysis of the first five Achieving the Dream states. The report analyzes state policies with regard to student access, student success, and performance accountability, with particular focus on minority and low-income students. In the case of access, the report examines what policies states have in place with regard to open door admissions, tuition, student aid, outreach to potential students, a comprehensive curriculum, and convenient access. The success policies the report analyzes pertain to remediation, academic counseling and guidance, non-academic guidance and support, transfer assistance, baccalaureate provision, noncredit to credit articulation, and workforce and economic development. Finally, with regard to performance accountability, the report examines the indicators used by the state, how data are collected by the state, and how the data are used by the state and the community colleges to determine funding and shape how colleges act. Besides describing the policies in place, the report also summarizes the reactions of those interviewed to those policies. Moreover, it details suggestions for future directions for state policy toward community college student access and success. To secure information on what policies the states have and how well they are working, we conducted many interviews and reviewed the written academic and non-academic literature on these subjects. We also attended the Policy Listening Tour meetings in each of the states, conducted by the Futures Project, in order to observe the discussions and informally converse with policymakers. Our interviews were conducted over the telephone and averaged twelve in each state. We interviewed officials of the state agencies coordinating the community colleges, the governor’s educational advisor, state legislators or staff members from both houses, the head of the state community college association (if one existed), the presidents or top officials of three or four community colleges (differing in degree of urbanicity and area of the state), and representatives of community organizations representing the African American, Latino, and lowincome communities in each state. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abstract Chapter One: Five States of Policy: A Summary 1 The Policies Examined 2 Research Methods 5 Variations in State Activity across Policy Areas Access Policies 6 Success Policies 11 Performance Accountability 17 Recommendations for Future State Policy Access Policies 23 Success Policies 25 Performance Accountability 28 References 30 Endnotes 36 Appendix: Taxonomy of State Policies 39 Summary Tables Comparing State Policies State Policies Affecting Student Access 43 State Policies Affecting Student Success 51 State Policies for Performance Accountability 64 Chapter Two: Florida 72 The State Context 72 Access Policies 74 Success Policies 84 Performance Accountability 95 Summary and Conclusions 101 References 103 Endnotes 107 Appendix Table A1 108 Chapter Three: New Mexico 110 The State Context 111 Access Policies 114 Success Policies 122 Performance Accountability 129 Summary and Conclusions 134 References 136 Endnotes 141 Appendix Tables A1 and A2 142 Chapter Four: North Carolina 145 The State Context 146 Access Policies 148 Success Policies 156 Performance Accountability 164 Summary and Conclusions 169 References 171 Endnotes 175 Appendix Table A1 176 Chapter Five: Texas 178 The State Context 179 Access Policies 181 Success Policies 193 Performance Accountability 202 Summary and Conclusions 205 References 208 Endnotes 213 Appendix Table A1 214 Chapter Six: Virginia 215 The State Context 216 Access Policies 218 Success Policies 226 Performance Accountability 238 Summary and Conclusions 242 References 245 Endnotes 251 Appendix Table A1 252 Summary CHAPTER ONE FIVE STATES OF POLICY: A SUMMARY In 2003, the Lumina Foundation for Education launched a major initiative, “Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count,” to increase student success at community colleges. The initiative focuses on colleges with high enrollments of low-income students and students of color. In the first round, 27 colleges in five states were selected. The initiative aims to help more students succeed, while maintaining access to community college for groups that traditionally have faced barriers. A key means to improve the performance of colleges is through enhancement of their capacities to gather, analyze, and act on data on student outcomes, including data on students grouped by race, income, age, sex, and other characteristics. From the beginning, a central component of this effort has been state policy. In each of the states where Achieving the Dream colleges are located, the initiative is working with a lead organization (typically the state community college system office or state association of community colleges) to develop policies that will enhance student success. To help guide that policy effort, the Lumina Foundation commissioned an audit of state policy affecting access to, and success in, community colleges. An indepth analysis was to be conducted of the initial five Achieving the Dream states (New Mexico, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia), to be supplemented later by a survey of all 50 states. This report describes that initial indepth analysis of the first five Achieving the Dream states. In those five states, we have examined what state policies are in place addressing issues of access to and success in the community college for minority and low-income students and have also solicited the views of policymakers, institutional officials, and community group leaders on how well those policies have worked and what future directions policies should take. To secure this information, we conducted many interviews in all five states and reviewed the academic and non-academic literature relevant subjects. The following sections lay out in detail the policies reviewed and our research methods. We then move to an analysis of our findings. We detail the areas in which the five states demonstrate a similar pattern of policy activity (or inactivity) and the areas where they go in different directions. We conclude by recommending future policy directions for the states. Summary 2 THE POLICIES EXAMINED To identify the important state policies shaping student access and success, we solicited the opinions of key policy actors and observers and reviewed the research and policy literature on community colleges and higher education more generally. We examined reports by leading research and policy organizations, publications by the lead state agencies dealing with community colleges in the five initial Achieving the Dream states, and journals and books dealing with community colleges and higher education. After several iterations what emerged was a policy taxonomy that is detailed in this chapter’s Appendix. Access Policies Despite the huge growth in higher education in the United States over the last 100 years, large differences in college access still remain, particularly by race and income. For example, among 1992 high school graduates, 75% had enrolled in some form of postsecondary education by the year 2000. However, the figures for Hispanics, Native Americans, and those in the bottom quartile in socioeconomic status (SES) in the eighth grade were only 70%, 66%, and 52%, respectively (Ingels, Curtin, Kaufman, Alt, & Chen, 2002: 21). With regard to access, we have looked at state policies addressing student admissions, tuition, student financial aid, outreach programs, provisions for a comprehensive curriculum, and facilitation of access at distant locations and nontraditional times. Admissions policy is of interest because, while community colleges are open door in ethos, this policy is under pressure as colleges face both increasing enrollment demand and more stingy state and local government funding (Cavanaugh, 2003; Hebel, 2004). Moreover, the increasing number of undocumented students raises important questions for an institution committed to access for the disadvantaged. Tuition and financial aid are of immediate concern given that both significantly affect whether students go to college (Heller, 1999; St. John, 1991). In the case of tuition, we have examined not only its average level but also whether a state has policies extending instate tuition to undocumented immigrants. In the case of financial aid, we have analyzed the extent of need-based aid available (particularly in comparison to merit-