Diversity of mission, student intent, and student demographics should influence state- and institution-level assessment and evaluation of community colleges. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH, no. 118, Summer 2003 © Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 51 4 Studying Community Colleges and Their Students: Context and Research Issues Jason E. Lane Multiple and changing institutional missions and student goals, as well as enrollments composed of a disproportionate number of minority students, weave a dynamic contextual quilt unlike any other that covers the various segments of the higher education community. The complications associ- ated with the study of students attending community colleges are further entrenched by research models based on educational outcomes associated with the missions of four-year institutions (Bragg, 2001). Moreover, the “open-door” policy that fostered much of the diversity of mission and stu- dent intent is now in jeopardy because community colleges have trouble articulating the full breadth of their evolved mission and differentiating themselves from other segments of postsecondary education (Phelan, 2000). Researchers and policymakers concerned with structuring admis- sion and fiscal policy for community colleges and their students need to understand student intent and the purpose of the institution before deter- mining performance measures, engaging in comparative analysis, and mak- ing funding decisions. The unique context of the community college and research methods structured on models designed to assess four-year insti- tutions purport a series of dilemmas for administrators, policymakers, and researchers. Community colleges are amorphous entities within the higher educa- tion community. To some, the community college is merely a junior college designed to provide students with the first two years of collegiate work on