Adult Noncredit Students’ Priorities and Satisfaction

Background

As reported in the Fast Facts-2019 of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), over 5 million noncredit students were enrolled in 1,051 community colleges in the United States as the fall of 2017, making up 42% of the total community college student body (AACC, 2019). Noncredit continuing education student enrollment has increased in the past two decades (Xu & Ran, 2015), and these students are outnumbered at many 2-year colleges (Van Noy, Jacobs, Korey, Bailey, & Hughes, 2008). According to the 2016 Adult Education and Training Survey from the U.S. Department of Education, 80% of adults who have a nondegree certificate reported that noncredit certificates were very helpful with getting a job, and staying marketable in the current job market (Cronen, McQuiggan, & Isenberg, 2018).

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES; 2016) defined noncredit continuing education as “a course or activity having no credit applicable toward a degree, diploma, certificate, or other formal award.” These courses and activities often focus on specific skills and respond to the needs of the students, local businesses, and employers. Many who attend noncredit programs are adult learners, immigrant students, and individuals identified as low-income and underserved (Ma & Baum, 2016). As many noncredit programs focus on immediate employment, they are often seen as the “last best hope” for many of these students (Becker, 2011).

In addition, some studies argue that noncredit programs are not only beneficial to students and employers but also to colleges. Van Noy et al. (2008) noted that noncredit programs help colleges develop and pilot new programs and courses, and assist with marketing and engaging institutional donors. Additional studies report that many noncredit programs act as conduits to higher education when students transfer to credit-bearing programs (Grubb, Badway, & Bell, 2003; Price & Sedlak, 2018; Xu & Ran, 2015). Even though enrollment in noncredit programs has significantly increased the many benefits of the noncredit programs, information about the needs and satisfaction of noncredit students has not been exclusively studied.

While many studies have, in a general sense, looked at adult education, far fewer studies have been conducted about the needs and satisfaction of adult students. In fact, we did not find a single study that specifically examined the needs and satisfaction of students who enrolled in noncredit continuing education programs.

By neglecting these students’ needs and satisfaction, colleges are doing a disservice to a large population of learners. Therefore, it is necessary to include attention to noncredit students to increase our knowledge about their needs and satisfaction and, in doing so, improve the services delivered to and the experiences of noncredit students.

Furthermore, higher education is being seen more and more as a service industry (Mark, 2013). According to marketing studies on higher education, students are satisfied with a company or organization when the quality of services matches or exceeds their expectations for a particular service, just as they would with any other industry (Elliott, 2002; Munteanu, Ceobanu, Bobâlcă, & Anton, 2010; Swan, Bowers, & Grover, 2002). As higher education becomes more competitive, students become more critical about choosing what schools to attend. Factors such as the college’s overall image, the quality of instructors and learning outcomes, student satisfaction, and word-of-mouth reviews affect a students’ selection of college (Hall & Zuhair, 2006; Ledden, Kalafatis, & Samouel, 2007). Studies also report that when institutions respond to student needs, overall student satisfaction increases, and their loyalty to the institution as a whole and the institution’s position in the larger educational market strengthen (Boksberger & Melsen, 2011; Gallarza, Gil-Saura, & Holbrook, 2011; Hall & Zuhair, 2006). By focusing on higher education as a service industry, higher educational institutions are increasingly focusing on students’ (customers’) needs and level of satisfaction.

Satisfaction is defined as the fulfillment of students’ academic goals and objectives (Kumar & Dileep, 2006) and can also be seen as the difference between students’ perceptions and expectations (Napitupulu et al., 2018). Wu, Tennyson, and Hsia (2010) suggested that student satisfaction was the most accepted measure of the institution’s quality and effectiveness of services. Similarly, Munteanu et al. (2010) noted that student satisfaction is an important measure of the quality of teaching, which can be seen as an indicator of the overall quality of educational services for higher educational institutions.

This article aims to understand the satisfaction and needs of noncredit continuing education students at the Kingsborough Community College (KCC) in Brooklyn, NY. The goals of the study are to learn about student’s educational experiences, and the overall satisfaction and needs of the continuing education student body, specifically within the allied health care and English as a second language (ESL) programs. This is the first attempt to learn about the needs and satisfaction of adult noncredit students to improve program outcomes, to meet their unique needs, and to increase their satisfaction not only at KCC but also at other community colleges. Davaasambuu, Cinelli, D’Alessandro, Hamid, and Audant (2018) found that a majority of community colleges in the United States were only collecting headcounts for their noncredit programs, and there were no systematic data collection standards and mechanisms in place for assessing overall noncredit program success, in addition to more insightful data such as the needs and satisfaction of noncredit adult students. Therefore, this study is innovative in terms of its in-depth assessment of the needs and satisfaction of adult noncredit student learners.

As the only community college in Brooklyn, NY, KCC provides accessible, affordable, and comprehensive educational and training opportunities. KCC serves nearly 30,000 students annually through both credit and noncredit programs. For some, they are the first in their family to go to college, which represents a significant step toward achieving the American Dream. Others come to KCC seeking professional certifications they need to secure and retain gainful employment in competitive job markets. At KCC, students come from over 140 countries and speak over 70 languages; they are primarily over 20, contribute to family incomes, come from families whose incomes are under US$30,000, and are from racial minority groups (32% African American, 18% Hispanic, 14% Asian, and 54% foreign-born students).

Method

Results

Demographic information of the students included sex, age, ethnicity/race, marital status, current employment status, current residency, residence classification, current class loads, and educational goals (Table 1). Most of the participants were female (66%) and more than 72% were 25 years old or older. There was a large diversity of race and ethnic backgrounds. In addition, about 25% of the respondents were international students. Almost 46% of the participants reported their marital status as “single.” Roughly 94% indicated that in addition to taking classes at KCC, they worked during the day, evening, or on weekends. Exactly half of participants were full-time KCC students. Almost 43% of the students indicated that their educational goal was to obtain at least a bachelor’s degree followed by 12% master’s degree.

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Table 1.

Demographics

	Total		Health care		ESL
Question	n	%	n	%	n	%
Sex
Female	62	66.0	34	75.6	28	58.3
Male	31	32.9	11	24.4	20	41.7
Total	93	99.8	45	100.0	48	100.0
Age (years)
≤24	26	27.7	5	11.1	21	43.7
25-34	28	29.8	15	33.3	13	27.1
35-44	31	34.1	18	40.0	13	27.1
≥45	6	6.4	5	11.1	1	2.1
Total	91	100.0	43	95.5	48	100.0
Ethnicity/race
African American	17	18.1	9	20.0	2	4.2
American Indian	3	3.2	3	6.7	—	—
Asian or Pacific Islander	14	14.9	3	6.7	7	14.6
Caucasian/White	32	34.0	5	11.1	26	54.2
Hispanic	10	10.6	6	13.3	2	4.2
Other	11	11.7	17	37.8	7	14.6
Total	87	92.5	43	95.6	44	91.7
No response	7		2	4.4	4	8.3
Marital status
Single	43	45.7	18	70.0	25	52.1
Single with children	15	16.0	11	24.4	4	8.3
Married	13	13.8	4	8.9	9	18.8
Married with children	16	17.0	8	17.8	8	16.7
Total	87	92.5	41	91.1	46	95.8
No response	6		4	8.9	2	4.2
Current employment status
Day	54	57.4	14	28.9	40	83.3
Evening	9	9.6	8	17.8	1	2.1
Weekend	25	26.6	18	40.0	7	14.6
Total	88	93.6	40	88.9	48	100.0
No response	5		5	11.1	—	—
Current residence
Own house	45	47.9	5	11.1	40	83.3
Rent room/apartment/house	28	29.8	26	57.8	2	4.2
Relative’s home	7	7.4	7	15.6	—	—
Other residence	9	9.6	2	4.4	6	12.5
Total	89	94.7	40	88.9	48	100.0
No response	5		5	11.1	—	—
Residence classification
In-state	54	57.4	31	68.9	23	47.9
Out-of-state	3	3.2	2	4.4	1	2.1
International (not U.S. citizen)	23	24.5	8	17.8	15	31.3
Total	80	85.1	41	91.1	39	81.2
No response	13		4	8.9	9	18.8
Current class load
Full-time	47	50.0	7	15.6	40	83.3
Part-time	38	40.4	30	64.4	8	16.7
Total	85	90.4	37	80.0	48	100.0
No response	9		9	20.0	—	—
Educational goal
Associate degree	10	10.6	3	6.7	7	14.6
Vocational/technical program	3	3.2	3	6.7	—	—
Transfer to another institution	6	6.4	2	4.4	4	8.3
Bachelor’s degree	40	42.6	23	51.1	17	35.4
Master’s degree	11	11.7	5	11.1	6	12.5
Doctorate or professional degree	7	7.4	4	8.9	3	6.3
Certification (initial/renewal)	1	1.1	1	2.2	—	—
Self-improvement/pleasure	2	2.2	1	2.2	1	2.1
Job-related training	—		—	—
Other educational goal	4	4.3	—	—	4	8.3
Total	84	89.5	42	93.3	42
No response	9		3	6.7	6	12.5
Institution was my
First choice	64	68.1	33	73.3	31	64.5
Second choice	9	9.6	6	13.3	3	6.3
Third choice or lower	7	7.4	1	2.2	6	12.5
Total	80	85.1	40	88.9	40	83.3
No response	13		5	11.1	8	16.7

Note. ESL = English as a second language.

Students were asked about their college experience: “So far, how has your college experience met your expectations?”; about 46% of the students reported that their college experience was “what they expected” and 22% indicated that it was “better” than they expected. In terms of the question regarding satisfaction, “Rate your overall satisfaction with your experience here thus far?”; 36% noted that they were “satisfied,” 18% “somewhat satisfied,” and 24% were “neutral.” Thirty-two percent of students reported that they would enroll in the college again when they were asked, “All in all, if you had to do it over, would you enroll here again?”

More than 68% reported that KCC was their first college choice. When students were asked about factors that influenced their decision to enroll at KCC, 87% reported the main factor was the cost of the programs, followed by 79% who said the availability of evening/weekend courses, and 75% the academic reputation of the school. Moreover, 75% of the students reported they chose the college because of recommendations from family/friends/employers, 74% the campuses location, 72% future employment opportunities, and 65% personalized attention prior to enrollment.

In addition, students identified specific strengths and weaknesses of KCC as an institution of higher education.

Strengths:

Challenges:

Table 2 shows the mean scores for each scale as reported by both allied health care and ESL students, as well as the differences in mean scores between the two groups. Overall, allied health care students reported higher levels of item importance and higher levels of satisfaction than the ESL students. However, gap scores between importance and satisfaction were much narrower for the ESL group than the allied health care group, indicating that ESL students had lower levels of importance and higher levels of satisfaction. The highest gap score was observed for academic services (0.91) followed by service excellence (0.85) as reported by the allied health care group, showing that students reported high importance but low satisfaction. There were no statistically significant differences between the average score of the two groups, indicating that the ratings were similar for the groups.

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Table 2.

Scale Summary of Allied Health Care and ESL Programs

Scale/item	Allied health			ESL			Difference
	Importance	Satisfaction/SD	Gap	Importance	Satisfaction/SD	Gap
Instructional Effectiveness	6.84	6.20/3.72	0.64	6.14	5.76/3.51	0.38	0.44
Safety and Security	6.48	5.92/1.69	0.58	5.90	5.62/2.31	0.28	0.30
Academic Advising	6.73	6.09/3.76	0.64	6.35	5.75/3.51	0.60	0.34
Admissions and Financial aid	6.28	5.69/2.55	0.59	6.05	5.52/2.35	0.53	0.17
Academic Services	6.69	5.78/3.80	0.91	6.12	5.80/3.43	0.32	−0.20
Registration effectiveness	6.73	6.03/2.87	0.70	6.06	5.66/2.65	0.40	0.37
Service Excellence	6.86	6.01/4.53	0.85	6.19	5.72/3.21	0.47	0.29
Campus Climate	6.44	6.00/2.40	0.44	5.92	5.62/2.31	0.30	0.38

Note. ESL = English as a second language.

Figure 1 shows a higher order of importance for specific items by both groups of students. For example, the most important item for the allied health care students was, “The content of the courses within my major is valuable” with the mean score of 6.71 out of 7. Satisfaction mean score for the item was 5.97 (SD = 1.45), indicating that there was a larger gap score of 0.74. Second in importance for the allied health care students was, “Classroom locations are safe and secure for all students” with the mean of 6.70. Satisfaction mean scores for the item was 6.17 (SD = 1.21) with the performance gap of 0.53. “Classes are scheduled at times that are convenient for me” ranked third in importance with the mean score of 6.68. The satisfaction level for this item was 6.10 (SD = 1.29) with the performance gap of 0.58.

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Figure 1.

Gaps between most important items and satisfaction for allied health care students.

“The quality of instruction I received in my program is excellent” ranked fourth in importance by the allied health care participants. The group rated the importance 6.55 with a satisfaction of 5.52 (SD = 1.73), showing a larger gap of 1.03 between the importance and satisfaction. “Business office hours are convenient for adult students” ranked fifth with participants in this group rating it as 6.52 with a 5.32 (SD = 1.66) satisfaction rating. The performance gap was 1.20 for this item. Three items tied for sixth importance with a mean score of 6.51. One item was “I am able to register for classes I need with few conflicts” with satisfaction of 5.55 (SD = 1.50) and performance gap of 0.96. “Registration processes are reasonable and convenient for adults” was also an important item with a satisfaction mean score of 5.65 (SD = 1.64) and a gap score of 0.86. The last item ranked as high importance was “I am able to complete most of my enrollment tasks in one location” with a satisfaction of 5.76 (SD = 1.30) and the gap score of 0.75.

Figure 2 illustrates higher order of the importance for ESL students. The item of importance given by the highest rating by ESL students (importance, 6.19; satisfaction, 5.91 [SD = 1.23]; and gap score, 0.28) was “Classroom locations are safe and secure for all students.” Second in importance for the group was “The staff at this institution are caring and helpful” with 6.11 mean score. Satisfaction score for the item was 5.34 (SD = 1.50) and the gap score of 0.77. ESL students ranked “Classes are scheduled at times that are convenient for me” as third with mean importance score of 6.06, satisfaction of 5.93 (SD = 1.23), and gap score of 0.13. “Computer labs are adequate and accessible for adult student” was ranked fourth with 5.98, satisfaction of 5.77 (SD = 1.13), and performance gap of 0.21.

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Figure 2.

Gaps between most important items and satisfaction for ESL students.

“Admissions representatives are knowledgeable” ranked fifth with 5.94 and satisfaction of 5.36 (SD = 1.34). The gap score between importance and satisfaction was 0.58. Sixth in importance order by ESL students was “My academic advisor is knowledgeable about requirements in my major” with 5.93 for importance, 5.10 (SD = 1.26) for satisfaction, and 0.83 for gap. “My academic advisor is available at times that are convenient for me” ranked seventh in importance with the importance of 5.92 and a satisfaction of 5.30 (SD = 1.41) and a gap score of 0.62. Eighth in importance was “My academic advisor is accessible by telephone and email.” The ESL participants rated the item 5.91 in importance, 5.34 (SD = 1.47) in satisfaction, and 0.57 in performance gap.

Discussion

This exploratory study focused on the needs and satisfaction of adult noncredit continuing education students at KCC who were registered in the allied health career or ESL programs in the fall/winter of 2018. This is the first attempt for the college to learn about the noncredit students, their experiences and goals, and their needs and satisfaction.

Higher educational institutions often use national student survey data to make informed decisions about credit-bearing course structure, schedules, and other priorities that might lend to degrees of student satisfaction. However, many higher education institutions that serve adult noncredit continuing education students often overlook the needs and satisfaction of those in noncredit continuing education programs. In fact, most continuing education programs at community colleges only use enrollment figures to inform decisions on course offerings, at what semester, during which season, and at what price.

Without any knowledge of noncredit students’ needs and satisfaction of courses, it is difficult to talk about the effectiveness of, demand for, and evaluation of these programs, as well as developing enhanced practices or policies for future noncredit programs. Student satisfaction has always been considered a core element for colleges and universities that serve traditional students in for-credit programs. Based on this current research, it is apparent that colleges and universities need to expand assessments to adult learners in noncredit programs, as well. Our review found neither a systematic national record of noncredit students, nor a national standard on data collection for noncredit students. As mentioned earlier, noncredit students outnumber for-credit students at many community colleges.

Considering that comparable information on adult noncredit students was not available, we reviewed what was available: data on adult learners who are 25 years of age and older, who were in evening, weekend, continuing education, credit and noncredit, and graduate and undergraduate courses. These data were collected by the ASPS, by the Ruffalo Noel Levitz Center. However, these data included not only noncredit students but all individuals in credit-bearing programs, including graduate-level students. Not surprisingly, despite the population differences, the ASPS item results of program availability, time, and location compared equally with our adult learner enrollment. In addition, the cost of classes and distance to campus are also rated by community college students as highly important. The results also highlighted the importance of the course registration processes and payment structures, two items that have consistently been rated highly in other studies. Other studies reported that class scheduling is a key determinant of student satisfaction (Elliott, 2002), as well as registration processes and wait time (Zineldin, Akdag, & Vasicheva, 2011).

In addition, previous studies have found that faculty competency is a significant contributor for student satisfaction (Elliott, 2002; Howell & Buck, 2012), as well as being highly correlated to the perceived quality of education. In the national sample by Ruffalo Noel Levitz, in terms of their levels of satisfaction, adult learners placed a high level of importance on receiving timely feedback and other communication from instructors. One study found that consistent and meaningful engagement between faculty and students was a strong predictor for students’ satisfaction (Bjorklund, Parente, & Sathianathan, 2004; Lundberg & Schreiner, 2004). Similarly, students in our sample indicated that not only was feedback from faculty important but also communication and feedback from the Office of Continuing Education administrative staff are important. Similar to the national sample, KCC continuing education students also rated the college’s ranking, academic advising, registration effectiveness, and excellence in service areas as important factors for choosing where to study.

Identifying, assessing, and enhancing these services will help KCC’s Office of Continuing Education to improve its overall student satisfaction, program outcomes, and the college as a whole. Based on our findings, simple fixes such as extending registration times, having additional college and career advisors on staff, and training existing staff on customer service skills have the potential to increase enrollment and revenue, thereby giving us the resources to offer additional classes and programs in response to student needs. Currently, Kingsborough is enhancing its online learning initiative by offering more classes. By expanding online offerings to include continuing education classes, nontraditional students will be able to take classes that fit within their busy schedules.