shows, a two-year institution is the second-most-frequent starting point for students who received bachelor’s degrees in engineering.

It is possible to survey students who received degrees at the bachelor’s level or higher from the top down and ask whether they had experience in community colleges. According to data collected by the NSF, community college attendance among 1999 and 2000 (total) engineering bachelor’s degree recipients was 44 percent; for master’s degree recipients, it was 29 percent (NSF, 2003). The combined percentage of engineering bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients who attended community colleges was 40 percent (Tsapogas, 2004). The number of engineering bachelor’s degree recipients who also earned associate degrees was 10 percent; the percentage for those who earned master’s degrees was 8 percent (NSF, 2003). Together, the percentage of engineering bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients who received associate degrees in engineering was 22 percent (Tsapogas, 2004).

NSF also estimated data for students who received doctorates from 1991 to 1995; 8.2 percent of doctoral recipients in engineering had attended community colleges (NSF, 1996). Tsapogas (2004) updated this information for 1996–2000 (for all S&E) and again found that 8 percent had attended community colleges.