A comprehensive analysis of community colleges in the United States-updated with the latest research

The revised seventh edition of The American Community College is an essential resource for practitioners and graduate students in the field of higher education. This book has been providing up-to-date information and statistics about community colleges for four decades and is a trusted and revered reference. Covering community college students, faculty, curriculum, assessment, finance, governance, and more, this book provide a thorough understanding of the role community colleges play in the American educational system. For educators, policymakers, and philanthropists alike, community colleges are important as the nexus of national efforts to prepare a highly skilled workforce and as the lynchpin of the K-20 education pipeline. This book delivers the facts and context readers need to make informed decisions in the community college space.

Written by leading researchers in the field, The American Community College has been thoroughly revised with a greater focus on equity. Further, this edition includes access to online supplemental materials, including end-of-chapter guiding questions and a guide for transitioning from the 6th to the 7th edition. Additional updates include coverage of collaborations with community, economic, and workforce development organizations; a greater focus on entrepreneurship and innovation; recent efforts to improve student persistence and attainment through guided pathways and equity-minded student supports; and the growing emphasis on preparing a skilled workforce via noncredit training, credit for prior learning, micro-credentials, and community college baccalaureate programs. Readers of The American Community College will:

• Benefit from a comprehensive analysis of the most recent findings and up-to-date information on the American community college.
• Find completely revised and updated information about recent changes in the community college landscape
• Obtain current information on student access and outcomes, instruction, student services, and curricular functions
• Learn from updated tables and graphs that reflect the most current data and incorporate new examples of the services that colleges provide

Since it was first published in 1982, The American Community College has become the primary resource that faculty, administrators, trustees, and researchers look to for information on these quintessentially American institutions.

Praise for the Seventh Edition of The American Community College

"Serving as a primer for all things community college for the past four decades, Dr. Carrie Kisker delivers a timely update to this seminal piece, The American Community College. College leaders and faculty who read this new edition will explore community college trends along with best practices to help successfully navigate the new realities of a post-pandemic world."
-Dr. Steven R. Gonzales, Chancellor, Maricopa Community Colleges

"Kisker artfully captures the community college movement by examining its origins, its complexity in operation, its aspirations and the perspectives of critical friends who desire to see the movement flourish. Mandatory reading for any postsecondary professional."
-Dr. Christopher M. Mullin, Lumina Foundation and author, Community College Finance

"The American Community College, Seventh Edition chronicles the community college enterprise from its origins to the contemporary landscape. Carrie B. Kisker's latest iteration offers readers the breadth of earlier editions yet greater depth relative to the evolving nuances of enrollment management, funding/resource development, shared governance, curriculum, academic equity, and student success in an ever-changing higher learning environment."
- Dr. Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, Professor and Associate Dean for Equity, Justice, and Strategic Partnerships, University of Pittsburgh, and Executive Director, Council for the Study of Community Colleges

"For over four decades this book has been the gold standard for information on the community college, and now with Carrie Kisker's exceptional Seventh Edition that standard is ensured for many years to come."
- Dr. Terry O'Banion, President Emeritus, League for Innovation in the Community College and Senior Professor of Practice, Kansas State University