Art Education in American Community Colleges. Final Report.

A national study was conducted by the Center for the Study of Community Colleges to investigate the status of art education in community colleges. The study involved a review of the literature, a survey of 1,200 students enrolled in advanced art classes in 120 community colleges, a survey of the chairs of fine and performing arts departments in 109 colleges, and a fine and performing arts curriculum analysis based on 109 colleges. Study findings included the following: (1) studio art and music were taught in more than 80% of the colleges, each accounting for 43% of the enrollment in the arts; (2) theatre was taught in more than half, and dance in around one-third of the colleges; (3) twice as many colleges reported increasing enrollment in the arts than those reporting decreasing or stable enrollment; (4) five of eight art enrollees were in classes for which there was a prerequisite; (5) half of the students were aged 21 or younger and 20% were aged 35 or over; (6) 75% of the younger group aspired to the baccalaureate, while nearly half of the older group were attending for personal interest; (7) although few students had been involved professionally with the arts before entering college, 38% said that within 5 years they expected to be earning a significant proportion of their income from the arts; and (8) musical events dominated the list of arts-related activities produced in association with community groups. (EJV)

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