Vocationalism and the differentiation of tertiary education: lessons from US community colleges

Many countries, including the US and England, have developed sub‐degree institutions within tertiary education—community colleges, further education colleges, and related institutions in other countries. The policy question is whether the differentiation of tertiary education has been a wise development, and whether the benefits—greater access to tertiary education, an emphasis on teaching, an ability to bridge different purposes, lower costs—outweigh the potentially negative effects on equity. In the US, a number of ways of blurring the boundaries between community colleges and universities have developed, representing potential solutions to some of the problems created by differentiated institutions.