Welfare-to-Work Programs in Community Colleges

EdInfo 00-12
December, 2000
ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 requires increasing proportions of welfare recipients to move from public assistance to work activities. The measure presented significant challenges for community colleges providing programs for the welfare population. A national study undertaken by the American Association of Community Colleges in 1998 set out to examine the influence of welfare reform on community colleges. The survey, mailed to 1,123 public and independent community colleges across the nation, yielded a 35.1 percent response rate. The AACC reported the following findings:

• Welfare-to-work programs are offered by 53.8 percent of the colleges in the survey, enrolling 2.5 percent of their student population. The report emphasizes that due to student confidentiality and the lack of state reporting obligations, the figure on enrollment may be an underestimate.

• More than 42 percent of the community colleges reported an increase in their welfare-to-work program enrollment since the enactment of PRWORA, while 21 percent of respondents noted a decline.

• The primary emphasis of community college welfare-to-work programs is on entry-level training (offered by 69.6 percent of the colleges), adult and remedial education (53.3 percent) and basic technical training (47.6 percent). Within their welfare-to-work programs, 43.5 percent of respondent colleges reported offering job-readiness instruction, while academic instruction was provided by 36.7 percent of the colleges.

• Eighty percent of the colleges indicated offering Job Training and Partnership Act (JTPA) programs, with a focus on short-term training in basic literacy and job-search skills.

• Community colleges have commonly responded to PRWORA by developing noncredit courses. Survey responses indicate that, on average, 44 percent of courses in welfare-to-work programs are noncredit, while 56 percent are for credit.

This information was reported in ED 439 774, "Community College Involvement in Welfare-to-Work" by Gregory Kienzl. A full-text copy of this document may be obtained by contacting ERIC Document Reproduction Services (EDRS), 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, VA 22153-2852; or by calling (800) 443-ERIC.

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