Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Hughes, K., Belfield, C., Ran, F., & Jenkins, D. (2018). KCTCS Enhancing Programs for IT Certification (EPIC): Independent evaluation contracted by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. New York, NY: Community College Research Center, Teacher's College, Columbia University.
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to assess the impact of the Enhancing Programs for IT Certification’s (EPIC) Learn on Demand (LoD) courses on community college students’ education outcomes. This summary focuses on the comparison between students who enrolled in EPIC LoD courses and students who enrolled in non-EPIC LoD courses.
- The authors used a nonexperimental design to compare the outcomes of students enrolled in EPIC LoD courses with those enrolled in non-EPIC LoD courses.
- The study found that EPIC LoD course participation was significantly associated with increased course completion and certificate completion.
- The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is moderate because it was based on a well-implemented nonexperimental design. This means we are somewhat confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the EPIC LoD courses, but other factors might also have contributed.
Intervention Examined
The Enhancing Programs for IT Certification (EPIC) Project
Features of the Intervention
The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program provided $1.9 billion in grants to community colleges to improve skills and support employment in high-demand industries, notably manufacturing, health care, information technology, energy, and transportation. Through four rounds of funding, DOL awarded 256 TAACCCT grants to approximately 800 educational institutions across the United States and its territories.
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS)—a consortium of six community colleges—was awarded a TAACCCT grant in October 2014 to support its Enhancing Programs for IT Certification (EPIC) project. The project’s objective was to expand these colleges’ online, competency-based curriculum called Learn on Demand (LoD) and to help dislocated workers, veterans, and other adults obtain credentials and degrees in high-demand careers such as computer information technology (CIT) and medical information technology (MIT). The TAACCCT grant allowed the EPIC project to develop five new LoD degree programs, 14 new stackable certificate programs in CIT, and two degree programs and six certificate programs in MIT. These different EPIC programs offered self-paced, modularized learning for students online, and had flexible start dates. They also provided academic support (e.g., 24/7 advising and student success coaching) and workplace readiness preparation. The EPIC project built upon the KCTCS’s strategy to improve recruitment and retention of adults in business administration and information technology programs.
Features of the Study
The authors used a nonexperimental design to compare the outcomes of students who enrolled in EPIC LoD courses with students who had not taken any EPIC courses. The treatment group included students who enrolled in one or more EPIC LoD courses between spring 2015 and spring 2017. The comparison group consisted of students who took a LoD course that was not part of the EPIC initiative during the same time period. Using data provided by KCTCS, the authors conducted statistical models with controls to examine differences in course completion and certificate completion between the groups. The final analytical sample included 1,182 students in the treatment group and 6,295 students in the comparison group.
Study Sites
- Big Sandy Community and Technical College in Prestonsburg, Kentucky
- Jefferson Community and Technical College in Louisville, Kentucky
- Hazard Community and Technical College in Hazard, Kentucky
- Somerset Community College in Somerset, Kentucky
- Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Cumberland, Kentucky
- West Kentucky Community and Technical College in Paducah, Kentucky
Findings
Education and skills gain
- The study found a significant relationship between EPIC LoD participation and course completion, where EPIC LoD students were more likely to complete their courses than non-EPIC LoD students.
- The study also found a significant relationship between EPIC LoD participation and certificate completion, where EPIC LoD participants who took more than two EPIC courses were significantly more likely to complete a certificate compared to students enrolled in non-EPIC LoD courses.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
Although the authors used a well-implemented nonexperimental design, treatment group participants self-selected into the EPIC LoD courses. Students who self-selected into the courses could differ in observable and unobservable ways, affecting the outcomes.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is moderate because it was based on a well-implemented nonexperimental design. This means we are somewhat confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the EPIC LoD courses, but other factors might also have contributed.