The Politics of Community College Expansion: Beyond the Functionalist and Class-Reproduction Explanations

Community colleges are a crucial segment of higher education, enrolling over a third of all college students. Yet great controversy exists over the forces propelling their rise. This article tests the two dominant explanations of community college expansion--the functionalist and class-reproduction explanations--against the experiences of four states where community colleges have proliferated (California, Illinois, New York, and Washington State) and one where they have failed to develop (Indiana). It finds that both explanations fundamentally misconceive the process of community college expansion, missing particularly the key role of government officials pursuing interests of their own. Hence, a third explanation is developed that stresses government officials' "relative autonomy" from private interest-group pressure. This new approach not only provides a better explanation of community college expansion but also suggests a new direction for the politics of education.