Community College Research Center

In 1996, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation invited Thomas Bailey, director of the Institute on Education and the Economy at Teachers College, Columbia University, to submit a proposal to form a community college research center. At the time, very little was known about two-year public colleges despite the fact that they enrolled nearly half of the nation's undergraduates.

In the years since, CCRC's research on community colleges has served to generate and inform a renewed interest in these essential higher education institutions, and continues to make vital contributions to higher education research, policy, and practice.

CCRC strategically assesses the problems and performance of community colleges in order to contribute to the development of practice and policy that expands access to higher education and promotes success for all students.