ABSTRACT
American community colleges enroll over 5,500,000 million college students. The nation’s 275,000 community college faculty form 39% of all higher education faculties. Community colleges are the first choice for many students seeking eventual transfer to a baccalaureate institution, and as such they are important “feeders” for many of the more prestigious universities. However, they are colleges for those who require a second chance at higher education also. For those who have trouble being admitted to or succeeding in a four-year institution, community colleges represent not only a second chance, but often a last chance for higher education. A reason to study community colleges lies in the educational literature. Very few national studies have attempted to paint a broad-scale, comprehensive portrait of the faculty. In 1975, just as the community colleges were ending their era of great expansion, Cohen and Brawer undertook a national study of the practices and attitudes of community college faculty.
