Data Caveats

Updated 04/15/2026

TOP4 or TOP6 Program Information: As with any display of program information at the TOP4 or TOP6 level, further exploration is often needed to understand what degrees,  certificates, and courses are offered on a particular TOP code at each college, especially when making program comparisons across colleges. The Chancellor's Office Curriculum Inventory System (COCI) provides information on programs and courses at the TOP code level at all California community colleges, which can be exported to Excel. Because colleges regularly update this information, it is recommended to check COCI frequently and talk with faculty, program chairs, or deans at other colleges to fully understand how programs on the same TOP code compare across colleges.

Denominators or Students Included: The denominator, count of students, population, or n size is important to note when you are viewing the data displayed. For the two Comparison views, the denominators are displayed on the vertical axis in brackets ( ) next to the chart labels and in the hover over. However, they are not displayed on the Explore Time Trends & Equity view.
NOTE: All denominators for all metrics, all years, and all student populations are available in the CSV downloads. 

Progress Metrics:
Data Source(s): Data elements submitted by colleges to the Chancellor's Office MIS (COMIS) are the only data source for these metrics. 

Denominator or Students Included: All general admit students are included for Earned 9+ CTE Units (402) for the denominator or universe of students. However, Completed a Noncredit Workforce Milestone (403) is restricted to only those general admit students who took noncredit courses coded on a CTE TOP code or flagged as a workforce preparation course with a noncredit enrollment in academic year. For the two Persistence metrics at the selected college or at any college (406 and 407), the denominator is restricted to only those general admit students who took courses in the fall term of the academic year who did not transfer and who did not earn an award. 

Students & Success Metrics:
Data Source(s): Data elements submitted by colleges to the Chancellor's Office MIS (COMIS) are the only data source for the completion and count of student metrics. However, Transfer to a Postsecondary (650) also relies on the CSU/UC match and the National Student Clearing House to determine transfer.

Denominator or Students Included: Students (122) includes all students who had an enrollment as a general admit student in at least one term of the academic year at the selected college. All general admit students are included for the five Success metrics: Earned an Award per Vision Completion Definition (619), Earned an Associate Degree (631), Earned a Chancellor's Office Approved Credit Certificate (603), Earned a Noncredit Certificate (604), Transfer to a Postsecondary (650). By including all general admit students in the denominator for these success metrics, percentages are low since many students who attend community college are not seeking to earn a degree or certificate or transfer. Transfer to a Postsecondary is restricted to only those students who have earned 12 or more units at any time and at any college up to and including the academic year, who exited the community college system, and who enrolled in any four-year postsecondary institution in the following year.

Employment & Earnings Metrics:
Data Source(s):  The main source for Earnings Metrics (Attained a Living Wage, Median Annual Earnings (800), Median Change in Earnings (801) is the California Employment Development Department (EDD) Unemployment Insurance file. There are instances when a student may not appear in the EDD UI wage file: invalid Social Security Number (SSN); self-employed; employed by the federal government; employed outside California; not employed between October-December in the year after exit from all postsecondary. Other sources include data elements submitted by colleges to COMIS as well as the CSU/UC match, and the National Student Clearing House to determine exit from postsecondary.

The data source for Job Closely Related to Field of Study (701) is the CTE Outcomes Survey (CTEOS), an annual survey funded by the CCCCO and administered by Santa Rosa Junior College CTEOS. Both credit and non-credit students are surveyed, and the exact definition of who is included in the survey cohort can be found in their FAQ. Data is lagged by an additional year to survey the exiting students. 

Denominator or Students Included: Only general admit students who have exited all postsecondary are included in any Employment & Earnings metrics. A student is determined to have exited from all postsecondary if there is no record at any community college and if an enrollment for that student can not be found in the match with CSU/UC or the National Student Clearinghouse for the entire academic year. Therefore, data is lagged by one academic year.

For Job Closely Related to Field of Study metric, the number of respondents to that question in the survey is the denominator and can be low. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to the denominator or population (n size) when using and interpreting the data displayed for this metric.