Classification System

Washington, D.C., July 24, 2001—A new report proposes a dramatically improved way of classifying 2-year colleges in the U.S., providing a potent new tool for enhancing public policy understanding and support for the more than 2,000 schools in this category. The classification system points out the wide diversity of 2-year institutions and the broad purposes they serve as educators of nearly one-half of all college students.

The report, “A Classification System for 2-Year Postsecondary Institutions,” was prepared by Ronald Phipps, Jessica Shedd, and Jamie Merisotis and published by the National Center for Education Statistics under its Postsecondary Education Descriptive Analysis Reports series. It is based on a major analysis of national data on institutional enrollments, finances, degree or certificate completions, staff, and other information from the universe of 2-year schools in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

The most widely used and best-known classification system for higher education in the United States is the Carnegie classification system, which divides colleges and universities into categories based on their degree-granting activity—doctoral, master’s, baccalaureate, and associate’s. A major limitation of the Carnegie classification system is how 2-year institutions are categorized. While there are six distinct subcategories for 4-year institutions, the 2000 Carnegie classification places the institutions that offer associate of arts degrees or certificates into a single grouping, Associate’s Colleges.

The proposed classification system includes seven distinct categories of schools, developed with a statistical technique known as “cluster analysis.” The seven categories are named using non-hierarchical, descriptive terms. They are as follows:

At public 2-year institutions, size of institutional enrollment is the most distinguishing characteristic. There are three categories within this sector:

• Community Development and Career Institutions are institutions with an unduplicated headcount of less than 2,000 students. These institutions tend to confer awards and degrees primarily in job and career skills development, and to focus on overall workforce development for the communities they serve.
• Community Connector Institutions are institutions with an unduplicated headcount of 2,000 to 9,999 students. These institutions tend to confer awards and degrees that target job and career skills development, and to offer academic programs with some component of general education that can facilitate transfer to 4-year institutions.
• Community Mega-Connector Institutions are institutions with an unduplicated headcount of at least 10,000 students. These institutions tend to be in urban locations, to confer awards and degrees that target job and career skills development, and to offer academic programs with some component of general education that can facilitate transfer to 4-year institutions.

At private, not-for-profit 2-year institutions, the percentage of total awards granted that are in allied health programs is the distinguishing characteristic. Two categories were created within this sector:

• Allied Health Institutions are institutions that grant 100 percent of their awards in allied health programs. These institutions tend to have small enrollments and to have an exclusive focus on allied health training.
• Connector Institutions are institutions that grant less than 100 percent of their awards in allied health programs. These institutions tend to confer awards and degrees that target job and career skills development, and to offer academic programs with some component of general education that can facilitate transfer to 4-year institutions.
• The distinguishing characteristic of private for-profit 2-year institutions is the percentage of total awards granted that are certificates. The two categories within this sector are:
• Certificate Institutions are institutions that grant 100 percent of their awards as certificates. These institutions provide specialized training, usually in a single job category or area.
• Career Connector Institutions are institutions that grant less than 100 percent of their awards as certificates. They are degree-granting institutions—although many also offer certificates—that target job and career skills development. Many of these institutions offer academic programs with some component of general education that can facilitate transfer to 4-year institutions.
• Classification systems are used at the 4-year college level in a variety of ways, including allocating funding for public institutions, assessing the mission and programmatic focus of institutions, and determining state or regional goals for higher education, among others. The lack of a generally accepted classification system for 2-year institutions has been perceived as a limitation in policy discussions about these schools.

The report reviews recent classification strategies; discusses the data sources and limitations for the development of this 2-year classification system; explains the methodology used; and outlines the proposed classification system. The system outline is shown below.