Community Colleges: Trainers or Retrainers of IT Workers

What is the role of community colleges in expanding the supply of information technology workers? Are community colleges responding effectively to the dramatic jump in demand for IT workers by offering solid education and training to a large number of students

The Role of Community Colleges in Expanding the Supply of Information Technology Workers

Research report for The Urban Institute. This paper examines the role of community colleges in expanding the supply of information technology (IT) workers. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative methods, we find contrasting evidence on the importance of these institutions. Analysis of the 1994 and 1999 Current Population Survey and interviews with large IT employers indicate that community colleges are not adding significantly to the supply of IT workers. However, enrollment data and case studies of four community colleges suggest that students undertake a substantial amount of IT training at community colleges. While graduation rates are low, enrollment in community college IT programs is high. Moreover, there is evidence that community colleges contribute to retraining workers who are already in IT jobs, those switching to IT careers in mid-life, and those with previous bachelor’s degrees.Originally published by The Urban Institute. Copyright © May 2000 The Urban Institute

School Quality, Neighborhoods, and Housing Prices

We study the relationship between school characteristics and housing prices in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, between 1994 and 2001. During this period, the school district was operating under a court-imposed desegregation order and drew school boundaries so that students living in the same neighborhoods were often sent to very different schools in terms of racial mix and average test scores of the students. We use differences in housing prices along assignment zone boundaries to disentangle the effect of schools and other neighborhood characteristics. We find systematic differences in house prices along school boundaries although the impact of schools is only one-quarter as large as the naive cross-sectional estimates would imply. Part of the impact of school assignments is mediated by differences in the characteristics of the population and the quality of the housing stock that have arisen on either side of the school assignment boundary. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.