An Analysis of Selected Legal and Operational Differences Among Public Two-Year College Systems

The purposes of this study were to: (1) analyze and categorize legal differences among public 2-year college systems; and (2) analyze selected institutional variables to determine the extent of operational differences among them. For the first purpose, state constitutions and statutes were analyzed; for the second, data were collected by mailed questionnaires soliciting data on chief administrators, deans of instruction, academic faculty, students, and financing from institutions operating under the identified legal structures. Where appropriate, data were statistically analyzed to determine the significance of differences among legal structures. Only four state constitutions contain significant references to 2-year colleges: two contain provisions for financing them and two provide for the creation of statewide systems. Statutory analysis revealed that 40 states provide for public 2-year colleges. Control, concept, establishment procedures, and financing differ greatly among the states, but trends are noted. For analysis of operational differences, questionnaires were mailed to 237 public 2-year colleges in 22 states representing six legal structures. The returns and data were anlyzed and reported. On the basis of these analyses, it was concluded that marked differences among such legal structures do exist. (Author/AL)