Ranking of Community Colleges

[DawnM]

A gal I have recently met and started a friendship with keeps telling me that our local CC is one of the top in the country.

 

I am doubtful.  I didn't even know CC had a ranking, but I can't find any info to imply that ours is somehow superior to others.

 

Is there a ranking somewhere like there is for 4 year colleges?

 

I found this:

 

http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/score_rank_by_commc/7

 

But when I type in our local CC it doesn't change the page, so I am not sure if it isn't working or if ours isn't in the top 500.  

 

 

[PrincessMommy]

I've heard similar things about our local CC and, having attended recently, I'm doubtful.  I'd love to know if there's something like this too.

[MyThreeSons]

I think the search function is not working properly. I went to page 4 in the list, noted the name of a college, then went back to the first page, typed in the name that I knew should be there, and it didn't jump to that page.

[JFSinIL]

The cc's I attended are there, 105 and 172, and the local cc my dds start out at is number 282.  Not too bad.  At least they can enroll and get started, my nephew in Moreno Valley CA had to enroll then wait his turn to pick classes a semester or two later as his local cc can't meet demand.

 

Search function did not work for me either, I just skimmed each page until I found our school.  Finding my old schools only happened since they are higher up in the ratings than ECC.

[DawnM]

Oh, kept digging.  Our is on this list:

 

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.ccrankings.pdf

 

Huh......so many different ranking systems.

[DawnM]

The cc's I attended are there, 105 and 172, and the local cc my dds start out at is number 282.  Not too bad.  At least they can enroll and get started, my nephew in Moreno Valley CA had to enroll then wait his turn to pick classes a semester or two later as his local cc can't meet demand.

 

Search function did not work for me either, I just skimmed each page until I found our school.  Finding my old schools only happened since they are higher up in the ratings than ECC.

 

I didn't have the patience to do that!

[MyThreeSons]

Any time there are rankings, it is interesting to see the criteria involved.

 

There was a list recently that ranked the most "liberal" colleges in the country. It turned out the ranking was based on looking at the political contributions of faculty members.  :confused1:

[Jenny in Florida]

I tried typing "stateuniversity.com" and the name of our local community college into Google, and a couple of different listings for that school popped up.

[DawnM]

Any time there are rankings, it is interesting to see the criteria involved.

 

There was a list recently that ranked the most "liberal" colleges in the country. It turned out the ranking was based on looking at the political contributions of faculty members.  :confused1:

 

 

that is funny!

[DawnM]

I tried typing "stateuniversity.com" and the name of our local community college into Google, and a couple of different listings for that school popped up.

 

Huh, I found it that way but didn't find the ranking.  Maybe it isn't ranked not that top 500.

[Jenny in Florida]

Oh, kept digging.  Our is on this list:

 

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2007/0709.ccrankings.pdf

 

Huh......so many different ranking systems.

 

Our most local school appears on that one, too.

 

It's also here:

 

http://www.thebestschools.org/blog/2013/05/28/50-community-colleges-united-states/

 

But I did not find either the one my son attends or the one at which I plan to enroll for a certificate program on the US News and World list here: http://www.usnews.com/education/community-colleges

 

This list seems pretty comprehensive, in terms of the number of school included. (I found every community college for which I could think of a name.) However, the only information is a single "success rate": http://money.cnn.com/pf/college/community-colleges/

 

That last one does link to a site called CollegeMeasures,org, on which you can search for a specific college and look at a variety of information and statistics. You can also look at a list of all of the public colleges in a given state and compare them on a variety of factors. (The information here may be a bit out of date, though. Both of the best-known community colleges in my area have changed their names in the last few years, and this site shows both under the old names.)

[DawnM]

Our most local school appears on that one, too.

 

It's also here:

 

http://www.thebestschools.org/blog/2013/05/28/50-community-colleges-united-states/

 

But I did not find either the one my son attends or the one at which I plan to enroll for a certificate program on the US News and World list here: http://www.usnews.com/education/community-colleges

 

This list seems pretty comprehensive, in terms of the number of school included. (I found every community college for which I could think of a name.) However, the only information is a single "success rate": http://money.cnn.com/pf/college/community-colleges/

 

That last one does link to a site called CollegeMeasures,org, on which you can search for a specific college and look at a variety of information and statistics. You can also look at a list of all of the public colleges in a given state and compare them on a variety of factors. (The information here may be a bit out of date, though. Both of the best-known community colleges in my area have changed their names in the last few years, and this site shows both under the old names.)

 

Thanks.  I did see some of those, but can't really make out all the meanings.  Our local CC has a 33% success rate.  Obviously we are NOT in the top rankings!  

 

I won't tell the woman who thinks ours is so highly rated.  And honestly, it doesn't matter to me.  One of my kids will most likely utilize the CC system but won't finish a 4 year school.  The other two fully intend to attend a 4 year school right out of high school.  

 

But we aren't that far along yet.  It is sheer conjecture at this point.

[Laurie4b]

A gal I have recently met and started a friendship with keeps telling me that our local CC is one of the top in the country.

 

I am doubtful.  I didn't even know CC had a ranking, but I can't find any info to imply that ours is somehow superior to others.

 

Is there a ranking somewhere like there is for 4 year colleges?

 

I found this:

 

http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/score_rank_by_commc/7

 

But when I type in our local CC it doesn't change the page, so I am not sure if it isn't working or if ours isn't in the top 500.  

 

Their search functions appear not to work. For instance, I went to the second page, found the name of a cc listed and typed it into the search space where it says to start typing the name of the college. Nothing happened. I typed it into the search box on the upper right and got an "Error returned" message. I did this for more than one. I guess you'll have to scroll through. 

[gardenmom5]

I have two doing the cc route. (with transfer plans)  only, it's not a cc anymore . . . it's been multi campus for years, and is turning into a 4yr school,  they're now buying up surrounding land with plans to build dorms.  (it's also the third largest - by enrollment - school in our state.)  I can't find much information at all on any of the posted links.  It doesn't show up on the cc lists and insufficient information for the 4yrs . . . (if it even appears on them.)

 

(there's also been a problem of unscrupulous developers buying up cheap single family homes in a nearby inexpensive neighborhood - and building out of zone duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes.  I happened to drive past one day, saw them - and the stop work orders - and wondered what was going on.  now, I understand.  there are a couple cheap houses on my street that have been rented to students. the students have all actually been good tenants.  except for one who was a nutcase.)

[Tsuga]

A gal I have recently met and started a friendship with keeps telling me that our local CC is one of the top in the country.

 

I am doubtful.  I didn't even know CC had a ranking, but I can't find any info to imply that ours is somehow superior to others.

 

Is there a ranking somewhere like there is for 4 year colleges?

 

I found this:

 

http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/score_rank_by_commc/7

 

But when I type in our local CC it doesn't change the page, so I am not sure if it isn't working or if ours isn't in the top 500.  

 

I work at a CC.

 

Yes, there are rankings.

 

No, they are not particularly meaningful nationally or even statewide* for the following reasons:

 

1. Success is defined in many ways: completion of degrees and certificates (including HS and GED and mechanic certification and college transfer AA), % that transfer to a separate 4 year, % that persist in their studies from quarter to quarter, % that persist the entire year, % that make it from "basic skills" (pre-college math, pre-college English) up to college-level classes, and so on. But one measure, such as the IPEDS measure (Google it :) will only tell you about some of these measures. And they definitely won't tell you how many students found their passion at CC, or who finally decided to turn their lives around, or who were able to stay in college because they took classes there on the cheap. What metrics are used depends on any number of factors and sometimes they aggregate multiple rankings, which is terrible statistical practice as it will further exaggerate bias in some cases.

 

2. The rates can be gamed. CCs that are geographically close to universities have higher transfer rates because the same students are actually concurrently registered and NO, as far as I know, I have never been asked to remove any students who have already been to a four-year but who don't have a degree, from my cohorts, though the feds are studying this. You can offer shorter certificates to make it easier. You can cream your population by attracting students from the local university or having a bunch of night worker-retraining programs that are short-term and which attract the affluent and those able to finish what they start. You can make it easier to pass classes so that students don't get on financial aid probation. You can raise more money for scholarships to keep effective tuition lower. None of that has to do with how an individual student who is homeless, or whose parents are paying, will do. Though of course some of those things do matter.

 

3. Even without gaming, the fact is, many of those indicators depend on the population being served. A rural CC serving migrant farm workers is going to have students with different goals, different starting points, and different levels of determination than a suburban CC serving mostly professionals retraining for their jobs, or an urban CC like ours that seems to capture everyone who comes to this city for a new life. It's just different. The one comparison cohort they generally use, the IPEDS cohort, is so limited as to be laughable: only first-time, full-time students count in the success rate. But that makes up less than 10% of our total population! (We, obviously, did not make up the definition for that cohort--we would LOVE to tell people about the 30% of our students who start out unable to write a sentence and get a certificate in front-office technology going part time for two years, but whatever. They are not sexy enough for the feds. They are not comparable enough.)

 

So, yes. There are rankings.

 

No, they should not be considered meaningful.

 

Much more meaningful, IMO, would be how students rate instructors in the programs that they want to go into. The student wants an associate of applied science degree in dental hygiene? Awesome! Look up that program's job placement rate, see what students say on RateMyProfessor.com about the instructors, see what the curriculum is, see what the learning goals are, ask if they have new equipment. Student wants to transfer to a particular State U? Great! Ask advising: how many of your students transferred to State U last year? What was the acceptance rate? Can you tell me the prereqs for their bio program off the top of your head or do you know right where to find those online?

 

Those are important. Everything else is basically disembodied numbers that won't tell you much except that the statistic some private sector consultant chose, and which was then modified in committee ten times over, is higher or lower than X other colleges. But what does it mean? It means something but not nearly enough to rank CCs, particularly given how different the incoming populations are.

 

 

* For the record, ours is nationally ranked in some ways, not in others. We benefit from some demographic factors, not others. Around the state we all agree that much of the reporting we do simply does not capture what is really going on in terms of learning and student success.

[Amber in SJ]

Those lists are confusing.  At the first link I found all four of our local community colleges in the top 150.  At the link showing "success rates"  the schools were in the exact opposite order from the first list.  The school with the 74% success rate was ranked 142, but the school ranked 75 had only a success rate of 32%.  

 

Now that I have had two go from concurrent enrollment to university I can see where different student needs can make those rankings moot.

 

Amber in SJ

[luuknam]

I didn't have the patience to do that!

 

A little faster (but still tedious) is to use CTRL-F with part of your college name and go through the pages. My first CC (an urban CC) was on page 9, my second (a suburban CC) wasn't on the list, and my third one (a rural CC) on page 22.

 

Aside from what Tsuga said, there can also be quite a bit of variability within a CC. It really doesn't matter whether the art history classes are any good if you're wanting to be a welder, or vice versa.

[Tap]

A gal I have recently met and started a friendship with keeps telling me that our local CC is one of the top in the country.

 

I am doubtful.  I didn't even know CC had a ranking, but I can't find any info to imply that ours is somehow superior to others.

 

Is there a ranking somewhere like there is for 4 year colleges?

 

I found this:

 

http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/score_rank_by_commc/7

 

But when I type in our local CC it doesn't change the page, so I am not sure if it isn't working or if ours isn't in the top 500.  

I don't think their search engine works. When I type in a college from the list on page 3, it still doesn't find it.