The purpose of Non-credit community arts programs: A comparative case study of three programs within research universities is to examine the perceptions of the various stakeholders of non-credit community arts programs to determine the perceived benefits received by all stakeholders from the non-credit program, the university, and its surrounding community, the variables of a successful program, and the sustainability of these programs within their parent institution.

The research methods used included a preliminary 41-question survey distributed to 76 non-credit community arts programs embedded within colleges or universities to determine the specific programs within research universities. These 76 collegiate divisional community schools of the arts belong to the 400 members of community arts schools in the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. The results of the survey were used to determine the three non-credit community arts programs that were selected for the case study.

The case study of each of the three non-credit community arts programs was used to learn the perceptions of the various stakeholders of each of the programs and their respective parent institution. The stakeholders included research university administrators, the non-credit program’s executive administrators, the program’s faculty, staff, students, and parents of students that participate in the non-credit community arts programs. Site visits, interviews, either in person or via phone conversation, and review of printed materials were employed to obtain from the various stakeholders the perceived benefits of these non-credit community arts programs, the variables that contribute to a successful program and their sustainability within the research university. The diversity of the stakeholders interviewed provided a thorough observation of these programs from varying perspectives to discover their impact on the individual students as well as the university, its internal community and the community-at-large.