Strengthening Community Colleges’ Influence on Economic Mobility

This study describes pathways by which students can increase their earnings in a range of high-return fields, including transferring to a four-year college or completing a terminal associate’s degree or certificate. The authors used a unique database of detailed education and employment histories of 84,000 Florida students who reached the twelfth grade in 2000. Key findings include:

• Community colleges provide an important stepping stone to transfer to four-year colleges and attain bachelor’s degrees, especially for low-income, high-performing students.
• Academic performance in high school strongly influences postsecondary education attainment and earnings, but community college students with low high school GPAs can also significantly increase their earnings by pursuing high-return fields of study.
• Community colleges could be more effective in boosting economic mobility by helping students complete high-return courses and transfer to four-year college.

This study was authored in conjunction with the Pew Charitable Trust's Economic Mobility Project.