1. National Center for Higher Education Management Systems 3035 Center Green Drive, Suite 150 Boulder, Colorado 80301 Community Colleges: The Key to Meeting the Attainment Challenge Dennis P. Jones SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference Providence, Rhode Island August 11, 2010

2. The Size of the Challenge If the target is 60% of 25-34 year olds having a college degree by 2020 (the Obama goal), the gap (beyond current production levels) is 8.2 million. If the target is 60% of 25-64 year olds having a college degree by 2025 (the Lumina goal), the gap is 22.9 million.

3. Reaching the Obama Goal: Average Annual % Increase in Degree Production Needed slide 3 Source: NCHEMS

4. Closing the gap – assuming target is 25-64 year olds – will require getting many more adults to point of program completion Size of Gap – Assuming business as usual 22.9 Million Additional degrees produced if all states operate at best performance levels with young population 14.3 Million Gap required to be closed by older students 8.6 Million

5. Share of Undergraduate FTE Enrollment in Public Two-Year Institutions (2006-07)

6. Total Funding per Degree/Certificate, Community Colleges (2007-08) Source: NCES, IPEDS Finance and Completions Surveys 157,772

7. Adults with Some College (No Degree) as a Percent of Adults with Associate and Bachelor's Degrees (25 to 44 Year Olds) Source: ACS, 2006-08 Public Use Microdata Sample 7

8. Educational Attainment By Degree of Entry Delay: General Trends % degrees attained Source: BPS-96 survey. 8

9. Educational Attainment by Degree of Entry Delay: By Race White Black Hispanic 9

10. Educational attainment by degree of entry delay: By income Lowest income quintileSecond income quintileThird income quintile Fourth income quintile Fifth income quintile 10

11. Policy Issues The absence of policy leadership regarding state-level attainment goals High-value certifications –Definitions –Data –A place at the policy table WIA –High value certifications a requirement Attention to adults –Program design –Financing (e.g., incentives for adult completers)