This volume will assist community college leaders in thinking about the future of their institutions by focusing on the trends in the labor markets most common to community college programming. The editors, both economists, bring that perspective to bear on the forces shaping those markets. Using data specially prepared by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the chapter authors consider the long-run employment projections for clusters of programs in the fields of interest to community college students: health sciences, business, noncredit programs, protective services, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). A case study of California community colleges and an essay on the changing nature of transfer programs round out the volume. This is the 146th volume of the Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly report series New Directions for Community Colleges. Essential to the professional libraries of presidents, vice presidents, deans, and other leaders in today's open-door institutions, New Directions for Community Colleges provides expert guidance in meeting the challenges of their distinctive and expanding educational mission.

Author Biography

Richard M. Romano is the director of the Institute for Community College Research at Broome Community College in Binghamton, New York, and a research associate at the Institute for Community Development and the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute at Cornell University. Hirschel Kasper is professor of economics at Oberlin College.