Neighbor Effects and Economies of Scale and Scope at Public Community Colleges

• In Event: Educational Research From Different Lenses

Abstract

We investigate operating costs at 682 public community colleges in the United States over a 15-year period (2004-2018). The spatial analysis statistical approach accounts for the distance between neighboring institutions, while quantifying the impact of a neighbor’s actions on the surrounding institutions’ costs. The results reveal that costs are spatially correlated across neighboring institutions and the neighbor-effects are economically significant at 37%. Furthermore, there is a positive relationship between costs and certificates granted, human resources, student demographics and institution characteristics. Overall, the community college sector exhibits economies of scale, suggesting more certificates and associate degrees can be granted without cost inefficiencies. However, there is great variation in how many more degrees these institutions can grant before becoming cost inefficient.

Authors

• Adriana Vamosiu, University of San Diego

• Marvin A. Titus, University of Maryland