The Potential for Community College Students to Expand and Diversify University Degree Production in STEM Fields. Working Paper No. 244-1020

We use rich administrative microdata from Missouri to examine the potential to expand and diversify the production of STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] degrees at universities by tapping into the population of community college students. We find that the scope for expansion is modest, even at an upper bound, because most community college students have academic qualifications that make them unlikely to succeed in a STEM field at a university. We also find there is almost no scope for community college students to improve the racial/ethnic diversity of four-year STEM degree recipients. We conclude that it will be challenging to expand and diversify STEM degree production at universities with interventions targeted toward community college students.