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Information is provided on trends in the characteristics of students attending North Carolina's community colleges. Chapter 1 discusses the issues of extending opportunities to a diverse student population and developing a capable workforce, and explains the purposes and need for the present study. Chapter 2 presents the methods and procedures used in the study, which involved a survey of 16,196 students enrolled in 58 community colleges during fall 1988 and an analysis of other data derived from previous studies, census reports, and statewide reports. Chapters 3 through 5 highlight changes that have occurred in student profiles from 1968 to 1988, including trends in curriculum and continuing education students and enrollment changes compared with changes in the state's adult population. Chapter 6 provides a comprehensive profile of the students enrolled in fall 1988, while chapter 7 looks at the characteristics of students in college transfer, general, technical, and vocational education programs in terms of their demographic, socioeconomic, academic, and attendance characteristics. Chapter 8 profiles continuing education students in the academic, preparatory, avocational, occupational, and practical skills programs. Finally, chapters 9 and 10 offer a summary of findings, conclusions, and a discussion of implications. The survey instrument and additional information about study methodology are appended. (GFW)

A statewide survey of over 10,000 credit and non-credit students enrolled in 16 North Carolina community colleges and technical institutes in spring 1974 was conducted in order to develop a profile of these students and to analyze relationships between selected demographic, socioeconomic, academic, and educational program area variables. Among the conclusions reached were: (1) the current concept of the community college is inadequate and needs reconsideration, taking the increasing numbers of "new" students into account; (2) the state's community colleges and technical institutes tend to live up to their claim as "people's colleges", but only when all students (credit, non-credit, full-time, part-time, and extension) are considered together; (3) the colleges are moving to serve a broader cross-section of the population; (4) community colleges represent a major social force in providing educational opportunities; (5) students in different educational programs learn of program offerings and are influenced to enroll in particular institutions in different ways; (6) the charge that community colleges/technical institutes have socially stratified educational programs has some merit; and (7) the positive relationship found between student socioeconomic status and educational program area was neither consistent across all socioeconomic variables nor very strong. A study of the educational value orientations and of the institutional characteristics influencing college choice of the respondents is presented in the concluding section of the report. (JDS)

The objectives of this research project were to: (1) replicate and update data gathered in 1969 about North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) credit students; (2) provide a similar profile of non-credit students; (3) provide a profile of all North Carolina adults (over 18) in 1970 to serve as a comparison basis; (4) examine student value orientations toward education and reasons for attending institutions in the NCCCS; and (5) analyze the relationships found between selected programmatic, demographic, and socioeconomic variables. In order to achieve these objectives, a 45-item questionnaire was administered to 13,723 students enrolled in 16 NCCCS community colleges/technical institutes during the spring quarter of 1974; 10,074 (73 percent) were returned in usable form. Data presented includes demographic, socioeconomic, academic, and attendance characteristics for the entire sample, compared characteristics of curriculum vs. extension (non-credit) students, characteristics of students by major educational program area, characteristics of the adult population of the state, changes in credit student characteristics since 1968, student employment information, future plans of students by program area, and the institutional characteristics which influence student selection of a college. Sampling and data analysis techniques are detailed. (Author/DC)

Selected findings are presented from a Spring 1979 survey of 16,408 students enrolled in 57 North Carolina community/technical colleges and technical institutes. The study report is organized to answer seven research questions. (1) Who are the students being served by the North Carolina community college system? This section provides profiles of several student subgroups in terms of their age, sex, race, marital status, employment status, income, enrollment patterns, and educational background. Curriculum students, and within this category, college transfer, general education, special credit, technical, and vocational students, are profiled, as are continuing education students, that is, occupational and academic extension, and fundamental education students. (2) What are the major differences between curriculum and continuing education students? (3) To what extent are these students representative of the North Carolina adult population? (4) How are these student profiles changing? (5) What factors are related to students' choice of institution? This section considers the influence of institutional characteristics, students' educational interests, distance to classes, financial aid, and other student services. (6) How did students learn of institutional offerings and who influenced their attendance decisions? (7) What are students' employment and educational plans? (AYC)

A survey was conducted in Spring 1979 to determine the characteristics of a scientifically drawn sample of 16,400 curriculum and continuing education students enrolled in 57 community colleges and technical institutes in North Carolina (NC). The study focused on: (1) the demographic and financial characteristics of the students; (2) the major differences between curriculum and continuing education students; (3) the extent to which the students were representative of the adult population in NC; (4) how student characteristics had changed over the past ten years; (5) the factors which attracted the students to their institutions; (6) how the students learned of institutional offerings; and (7) what plans the students had for employment or continuing their education. Major findings indicated that while the majority of respondents perceived their institutions as the major vehicle for educational opportunity, a large proportion were not aware of the availability of support services. Recruitment practices on the part of two-year institutions weighed heavily in students' institutional choice, as did school location and low instructional costs. Enrollment trends showed that the NC colleges serve an increasingly representative cross-segment of the state's adult population, and, at the same time, serve unique sub-populations of non-traditional students. (JP)

This report provides an in-depth profile of the students enrolled in the 57 community colleges and technical institutes of the North Carolina Community College System during the spring of 1979. After an introductory section identifying key issues and describing the research problem and objectives, the study methodology is described. Next, student profiles based on a statewide sample of more than 16,000 students are presented for the community college students in general and for curriculum and continuing education students. These profiles cover demographic, socioeconomic, academic, and attendance characteristics, and, in addition, provide information on sources of influence and information, students' value orientation toward education, education and employment plans, and feelings about the standard use of community college as the designation for all institutions in the system. Next, demographic and socioeconomic comparisons are made between curriculum and continuing education students and North Carolina's projected 1979 adult population. The subsequent sections examine profile changes in the curriculum and continuing education student populations over the last ten years. After enrollment and population changes are compared, the report presents a summary analysis of the findings. Appendices provide the survey instrument and other information related to the study methodology and results. (AYC)

A 45-item questionnaire was used in a survey of 3,396 of the 39,988 black students enrolled in the 57 institutions in the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS). Beyond identifying the students in relation to their demographic, socio-economic, academic, attendance, program area, and institutional attraction characteristics, the study sought to identify which segment of the black population was being served, and of this group which would have no other access to education; to determine the most effective recruitment strategies; and to assess the amount and source of financial aid to black students. The study concluded that black students enrolled in the NCCCS had different socio-economic, demographic, and attendance characteristics than those of non-black students; NCCCS tended to serve a disproportionately high share of the state's black population; community colleges/technical institutes provided a major avenue for access to educational opportunities for the non-traditional student in the black population; institutional personnel were named as the first source of information about the program by curriculum students, while extension students were more influenced by friends; black students depended primarily on their own resources for financial support; black students were motivated to continue their education primarily to earn more money and to obtain a better job. (TP)