IDENTIFIERS *California Community Colleges

A study was undertaken to determine the extent to which the California Community Colleges (CCC) helped the state's welfare recipients obtain employment, increase earnings, and decrease welfare dependence. A literature review indicated that, while relatively few studies exist, community colleges do play a role in redistributing resources from wealthier taxpayers to less wealthy community college students and that the colleges do have a positive effect on graduates ' earnings. Research on specific programs designed to move individuals from welfare to work, however, showed mixed results, increasing earnings but not substantially reducing welfare costs. In 1995-96, California's community colleges enrolled approximately 140,000 students receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) benefits, representing 1 in every 6 AFDC recipients in the state. These students were younger and had more prior education than welfare recipients not enrolled, but were older, more often immigrants, and more likely to have a learnin