This study compared the perceptions of members of the Virginia Senate to those of Virginia community college presidents concerning the importance of state funding of 14 community college goal areas clustered from 31 activity statements. The study sought to determine what differences existed between the two groups concerning these goals and the priorities of the two groups for funding the goals. The study also examined the effects of the urban/rural nature of a respondent’s district or service region, the length of time as a legislator or president, the geographic location of a senator’s district, political affiliation of a senator, and the size of a president’s institution on the degree of importance for funding the goals.

The study found that presidents rated all goal areas higher than did senators. Both senators and presidents agreed that 13 of the 14 goal areas were important for funding. Of these 13, however, there were statistically significant differences for 7 goal areas. Senators and presidents both disagreed that the remaining goal area was important for state funding; the difference was statistically significant. Only 2 of the goal areas showed significant differences between urban and rural respondents. Of the 31 activity statements, presidents and senators both agreed that 24 were important for state funding. On 5 of the activities senators disagreed with the importance for state funding while presidents agreed. Both senators and presidents disagreed with the importance of funding two activities. Other variables showed little effect on the responses. The rankings of goal areas and activity statements by senators and presidents showed a high positive correlation indicating congruence between the priorities for funding of the two groups.

The study concluded that there is much agreement and congruence between senators and presidents concerning goals for Virginia’s community colleges, with greatest support for occupational/technical, developmental studies, and transfer programs.