Understanding Community Collegesprovides a comprehensive review of the community college landscape-management and governance, finance, student demographics and development, teaching and learning, policy, faculty, and workforce development-and bridges the gap between research and practice. This contributed volume brings together highly respected scholars in the field who rely upon substantial theoretical perspectives-critical theory, social theory, institutional theory, and organizational theory-for a rich and expansive analysis of community colleges. The latest text to publish in the Core Concepts in Higher Educationseries, this exciting new text fills a gap in the higher education literature available for students enrolled in Higher Education and Community College graduate programs. This text provides students with: A review of salient research related to the community college field. Critical theoretical perspectives underlying current policies. An understanding of how theory links to practice, including focused end-of-chapter discussion questions. A fresh examination of emerging issues and insight into contemporary community college practices and policy.