California’s community college system encompasses a broad-ranging vision for higher education. Students are able to access a diversity of programs including an affordable alternative for the first years of a bachelor’s degree, job training, basic skills, life-long learning and social services resources for groups such as returning veterans and welfare recipients. This expansive scope reflects the desire to grow both the economy and human potential. Yet, as resources dwindle, the conversation about what constitutes success has focused on those outcomes that can be counted easily. Statewide efforts, such as the Task Force on Student Success and national initiatives sponsored by the federal government and large foundations, have encouraged the use of completion—defined as the attainment of degrees and certificates or transfer to a four-year institution—as the yardstick for effectiveness.

But does completion capture the full impact of community colleges? And if community colleges desire to demonstrate their effect on students more broadly, what should they be measuring? These questions become particularly important in the current economic climate, as colleges are engaged in the painful process of cutting programs, services and even entire majors. In order to prioritize offerings, colleges must understand how students are using their institutions and how proposed changes will affect various student populations.

A study of course-taking behavior among California community college students, conducted by Dr. Peter Bahr, revealed that nearly a third of first-time students engaged in skills-building behavior—enrolling in a small number of courses over a few years. Although they passed these courses at very high rates, this group did not go on to achieve a degree, certificate or transfer. This is significant because colleges do not have a consistent way to capture the positive impacts of short-term course-taking, and because this large group is regarded as failing when using the completion yardstick.

This inquiry guide applies the findings of Bahr’s study within the context of attaining degrees, certificates, and transfer, and includes discussion questions that can help relate the results to key concerns in community colleges. It is intended to support conversations on college campuses and in the policy arena on: 1) how to better understand students’ goals by examining their course-taking behavior; 2) the types of measures that would help better assess community college impact; 3) how colleges could allocate resources to yield greater student success; and 4) the potential impacts of current reform efforts.