The National Alliance of Community and Technical Colleges (NACTC) has a membership of 40 community colleges and four universities that collaborate with the organization in a leadership preparedness role. The governing body of officers includes community college professionals from across the country. The NACTC lists its top role as benchmarking with a variety of colleges to problem-solve and determine best practices. The Alliance holds two conferences each year, restricted to its membership only .
Some community colleges or smaller universities such as Capella University don't belong to an association, but rather have formed alliances with a number of universities. Capella University is an accredited online institution that offers bachelor's, MBAs, doctoral, master's and EdS degree programs. A member listing of their alliances, by state, is located on their website under Community College Alliances. The alliances can provide discounts on courses or tuition charges, a simplified system for credit transferring, as well as facility networking opportunities.
The Rural Community College Alliance (RCCA) specifically targets institutions in rural America, to help them develop economic sustainability in an environment that is more isolated than city-based community colleges. The RCCA specifically brings rural community colleges innovative ideas to help their rural communities with local leadership development, strategic community planning, workforce training, small business assistance opportunities and entrepreneurship education. The RCCA was originally called the Rural Community College Initiative (RCCI) and was created by the Ford Foundation in 1994.
J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College and John Tyler Community College make up the Community College Workforce Alliance (CCWA) that serves central Virginia and the Richmond area. The Alliance, like many more locally focused alliances, concentrates on directly impacting its communities with assessments, non-credit training, educational programs and customized instructions. Local alliances like CCWA focus on leveraging their resources to bring their communities economic support and development through quality employment services and workforce training for the private and public sectors. The Alliance offers services on-site at companies, online or at one of its three facility locations.