As elite universities debate Congress over how much of their multibillion-dollar endowments to spend, a new report argues that higher education's heavy-lifters, community colleges, need both more money and better results.

The report, commissioned by the nonprofit College Board, aims to bring some of the spotlight back to the nation's 1,200 community colleges and their 11.6 million students.

While the document predictably calls for more public funds, it also reflects a changing outlook among community college leaders: It's no longer enough just to let students in the door. Community colleges must do more to measure students' progress and make sure they earn the credits they need to transfer or complete a degree.

The report is from a group created by the College Board called the National Commission on Community Colleges, and was written largely by community college officials. It's being distributed at College Board meetings starting this week, and highlights the role community colleges play in expanding access to higher education and helping drive economic growth.

But it also acknowledges that the schools' traditional emphasis on enrolling as many students as possible won't cut it any more.

"The focus has been access," said Augustine Gallego, chancellor emeritus of the San Diego Community College District and chair of the commission. "Now, we need to commit a lot of time and resources to how do we make sure students succeed, and how do we measure that success."

Community colleges currently enroll 6.6 million for-credit students and another 5 million who aren't seeking credit. Such institutions certify 80 percent of first-responders (such as firefighters and EMTs) and account for half of new nurses.

With costs that have gone up more slowly than at four-year institutions, community colleges are an increasingly popular starting point for a bachelor's degree. The College Board's latest survey found the average net cost — accounting for financial aid — for community college students is a mere $320 a year.

But community colleges haven't done as well moving students toward their goals. It's true that many of their students aren't there to earn a degree or certificate, so a "graduation rate" isn't a fair measurement. But several recent studies have focused on those who do want to earn a credential, and found that disturbing numbers of them never make it. One study of California's giant community college system estimated that only about a quarter of students seeking a degree or to transfer to a four-year school succeed within six years.

James Jacobs, of the Community College Research Center at Columbia University, says better student outcomes have risen to the top of the agenda at a broad range of community colleges. A philanthropic project called Achieving the Dream is helping such colleges study students' performance and develop ways to improve it. At least one state, Washington, is changing how it funds community colleges to reward student progress instead of just enrollment, Jacobs said.

"The days when community colleges sold themselves as low-cost community institutions, that model and that branding are almost over," said Jacobs, who was not involved with the College Board report. "Increasingly, you have to be a gatekeeper of opportunity and you have to be able to move people to that opportunity."

But that would mean more measurement — a touchy subject for colleges, which want to avoid anything in higher education resembling the federal No Child Left Behind law for K-12 schools. Community colleges are particularly concerned, arguing they serve students with a wide range of abilities and goals that test results can't capture.