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Community College
Community colleges: the universal school
EWA reform brief on community colleges.
Community colleges try to be all things to all people. With a curriculum that ranges from the basics for freshmen and sophomores to vocational training and continuing education, community colleges fulfill multiple roles for myriad students.
Although the oldest existing public two-year college was founded in 1901 to offer a liberal arts education, the mission of community colleges expanded during the Depression years to include job training. After World War II, higher education was viewed as increasingly important. At the same time, additional skilled workers were needed for new industry. Those realizations prompted the creation of a network of public community colleges, which grew during the 1960s as they sprang up across the country.
The American Association of Community Colleges counts almost 1,200 community colleges serving more than 10 million students across the country. Just over half of those students are seeking a degree.
Community colleges, which educate more than half of the nation's undergraduates, offer diversity -- in culture, ethnicity, age and socioeconomic status. Besides recent high school graduates enrolling to save money, others head to community college to polish their skills or learn new ones. Dual credit, in which high school students take college courses and earn credit, is adding an even younger student to the campus mix. At the same time, the nontraditional student, who is older than the norm and may also have family and other obligations, is also on campus. Although individual community colleges may have specific focus areas, all share the goals of providing access to education and serving their communities.
Now as higher education becomes a goal for the majority of Americans, community colleges are bracing for an onslaught of students. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, enrollment at community colleges began increasing rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s. From 1972 to 1990, enrollments almost doubled. But even as populations have soared, there is continued unmet demand. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of would-be students across the nation have been turned away from community colleges for lack of space. An April 2004 story in the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that California officials estimate that 175,000 students were turned away during the 2003-04 academic year even with more than 100 community colleges statewide. And in North Carolina, officials estimate that despite the state's 58 community colleges, some 56,000 students were rejected due to high demand.
For states like California, Texas and Florida where Hispanic minorities are becoming the majority populations and where those students are often poorer, the lower costs of community colleges make them the sought-after avenue to higher education. Data from the community college association shows that 55 percent of Hispanic undergraduates and 46 percent of African-American undergraduates are enrolled in community colleges.
Two year colleges have also become the prime remediation source for students who need extra help. A 2003 report "The Role and Effect of Remedial Education in Two Year Colleges" by Eric Bettinger and Bridget Terry Long showed more than half of entering students at the community college level are placed in remedial classes. The report also found that those first-year community college students are more likely to drop out and less likely to finish their two-year associates' degrees within three and a half years of starting classes.
Lumina Foundation for Education, along with the Pew Charitable Trusts and an international consortium of community colleges known as the League for Innovation in the Community College, have shown particular interest in remediation and improving standards for community colleges. Some projects include developing a remedial education guide and putting into practice recommendations of a 2000 National Study of Community College Remedial Education, as well as developing a project to establish new standards for community colleges.
But even as demand increases for a more educated workforce, community colleges are struggling to meet all those needs. Because they receive financial support from state and local governments that already have tight budgets, community colleges have not escaped from the uncertain times that have hit higher education overall. They continue to fulfill these varied roles with ever-shrinking dollars.
Things to think about:
- Will community colleges have to choose between their varied missions in order to provide services in tight financial times?
- What can community colleges do to maximize the space they have and provide greater access to potential students?
- Do the statistics back up the need for community colleges to continue offering a two-year undergraduate program? Just how many students actually transfer to a four-year college upon completing their associate's degree?
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League for Innovation in the Community College
An international consortium with resources on advancements in community college institutions and policies
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Community College Research Center
An organization devoted to community college research with a vast collection of documents, publicatiosn and resources.
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Community College Studies: Current Student List Salaries
This page offers contact information for individual students studying at community colleges, as well as a list of notable alumni.
UCLA
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Community College Business Officers
A support and development organization with an emphasis on aiding business officers in the community college system.
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Community College Week
An independent biweekly publication, available online, dedicated to coverage of community college topics.
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Pathways to College
The Pathways to College Network is a national alliance of organizations and funders dedicated to focusing research-based knowledge and resources on improving college preparation, access, and success for underserved students, including low-income students, underrepresented minorities, first-generation students, and students with disabilities.
The website offers publications and resources that are useful to reporters.
Pathways to College
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National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education Copy
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education promotes public policies that enhance Americans' opportunities to pursue and achieve high-quality education and training beyond high school.
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Bridging the Gaps to Success: Promising Practices for Promoting Transfer Among Low-Income and First Generation Students
The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education examines the programs and policies that colleges have established to help low-income and first generation college students' ability to transfer from community colleges to four-year institutions.The report highlights the work being done in Texas community colleges which has high transfer rates among institutions. Chandra Taylor Smith, Abby Miller and C. Adolfo Bermeo, The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education, Nov. 19, 2009
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Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (HR 4137)
It's been called one of the most important pieces of legislation to affect the higher education community in a decade. The House and Senate passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, five years after its inception. Lawmakers believe the legislation will help make college more affordable for American families who've seen tuition sky-rocket in the millennium. The bill addresses the following: expansion of the Pell grant program for college students, require that colleges to report more information about their spending and fess and the U.S. Department of Education will have more say over the student loan industry. Read the act here. See comments from U.S Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Tom Carper (D-DE) about Congress passing the legislation. Also read this Inside Higher Education story about HEA.
8/1/2008
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The Postsecondary Achievement of Participants in Dual Enrollment: An Analysis of Student Outcomes in Two States
The Community College Research Center has released a report about the positive outcomes of dual enrollment programs for high school students. Researchers tracked high school and college outcomes for dual enrollment participants in New York City and Florida.
Community College Research Center - Melinda Mechur Karp, Juan Carlos Calcagno, Katherine L. Hughes,Dong Wook Jeong & Thomas R. Bailey , 10/17/2007
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Southern Regional Education Board's Fact Book on Higher Education
Billed as one of the nation's most comprehensive collections of comparative data on higher education, the Fact Book has data on long-term trends and developments in higher education in 16 southern states. State-by-state summaries and quick facts are also included.
Southern Regional Education Board, 7/1/2007
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Building a Culture of Evidence for Community College Student Success: Early Progress in the Achieving the Dream Initiative
In 2003, Lumina Foundation for Education launched a national initiative to help community college students, particularly those of color and from low-income families, stay in school and succeed. The number of participating community colleges has grown from 27 in five states to 82 in 15 states. This report looks at their progress.
by MDRC, 5/1/2007
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Tough Choices or Tough Times
A bi-partisan commission, comprised of former Cabinet secretaries, governors, college presidents and business, civic and labor leaders, is calling for a total shakeup in how America educates its people. Its findings include ending high school at 10th grade, revamping and reducing pension systems, collective bargaining at the state -- instead of local -- level.
by The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce , 12/15/2006
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California's Community College Students pdf
California community colleges are falling short in educating a changing student population that needs greater remedial education and better English skills to join the state workforce, according to a Public Policy Institute of California report.
Public Policy Institute of California - Ria Sengupta and Christopher Jepsen, 11/17/2006
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Paying for Persistence: Early Results of a Louisiana Scholarship Program for Low-Income Parents Attending Community College
A preliminary evaluation of the Louisiana Opening Doors program, which provides additional financial aid to low-income parents attending community college, shows that students who were part of the program were more likely to enroll full time, passed more courses and earned more credits and had higher rates of registration in subsequent semesters.
MDRC - Thomas Brock and Lashawn Richburg-Hayes, 5/1/2006
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Dual Enrollment: Policy Issues Confronting State Policymakers pdf
ECS finds that an increasing number of states are offering dual enrollment opportunities - academic programs that offer college-level courses to high school students for college credit - to a broader array of students. These programs, which are relatively new, are believed to increase participation in postsecondary education. However, some outcomes are still unknown.
Education Commission of the States - Carl Krueger, 3/1/2006
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Moving into Town -- And Moving On
As of 2001, students under the age of 22 constituted 42 percent of all credit-seeking students in community colleges and those under the age of 24 constituted nearly three-fourths of first-time community college students (tables 1 and 2). As the baby-boom echo continues to play out with larger high school graduating classes, and as national and state policies focus even more intensely on the intersection between secondary and postsecondary education, this group is of increasing importance to community colleges.
US Dept. of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education - Cliff Adelman, 5/24/2005
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Community College Student Report
From the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, this report on students is released annually.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement, 7/20/2004
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The Complex Community College
A collection of 11 documents related to community colleges submitted for a Cornell Higher Education Research Institute conference.
Cornell Higher Education Research Institute, 7/20/2004
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Narrowing the Gap in Educational Attainment Among States
This paper urges a reassessment of the role of community colleges in a state's social and economic climate, and includes comparative state data and a descriptive summary of community college services.
ECS - Aims McGuinness Jr. and Dennis Jones, 10/1/2003
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The Community College Enterprise
The Community College Enterprise (formerly Michigan Community College Journal) publishes research and educational articles for community college educators. Their Web site includes journal contents published from 1997-2002.
by Louis A. Reibling, Editor, 7/20/2004
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Community College Students: Goals, Academic Preparation and Outcomes
This report from the National Center for Education Statistics provides information on the varying goals, preparation, and outcomes of community college students using 3 different data sources.
National Center for Education Statistics - Gary Hoachlander, Anna Sikora and Laura Horn, 6/1/2003
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State Policy and Community College-Baccalaureate Transfer pdf
This paper examines the role of state policy in influencing community college-baccalaureate tranfers. It also presents findings about state policy and transfer performance in six states, while also offering recommendations for improving 2/4 performance.
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and The Institute for Higher Education Po - Jane V. Wellman, 8/1/2002
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Community College Transfer Rates
This report from the National Center for Education Statistics examines and compares community college transfer rates using various definitions of transfers.
National Center for Education Statistics - Ellen M. Bradburn, David G. Hurst and Samuel Peng, 7/1/2001
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Some Lawmakers Target Pell Grants For Cuts
The government pays out billions in Pell Grants each year. But critics say there are cases of fraud where students don't use the money for education. Nancy Marshall Genzer, Marketplace, May 31, 2011
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Community College Examines High Failure Courses
In 2009, Brian Hayden attended a professional development program for Pittsburgh area community colleges at which Kay M. McClenney, director of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, offered an idea. She said that community colleges needed to take a look at the courses with the highest failure rates. Hayden, director of institutional research at the Community College of Beaver County, decided to do just that. Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, June 1, 2011
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New Report Raises Questions About How Assessments Are Used In Community Colleges
A new working paper by the Community College Research Center explores the role of assessments in effectively placing students in America’s community colleges. Teachers College, Columbia University, May 4, 2011
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Study: Students Need More Paths to Career Success
A two-year study by the Pathways to Prosperity Project at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education notes that while much emphasis is placed in high school on going on to a four-year college, only 30 percent of young adults in the United States successfully complete a bachelor's degree. Christine Armario, Associated Press, Feb. 1, 2011
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Harvard Report Questions Value of 'College for All'
By concentrating too much on classroom-based academics with four-year college as a goal, the nation’s education system has failed vast numbers of students, who instead need solid preparation for careers requiring less than a bachelor’s degree, Harvard scholars say in a report issued today. Catherine Gewertz, Education Week, Feb. 2, 2011
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Series Lays Out Blueprint for Increasing Graduation Rates at 2-Year Colleges
To help greater numbers of community-college students succeed, institutions need to move beyond small-scale programs and instead undertake broad institutional reforms, says the director of a research center that released today the first batch of papers in an eight-part series that lays out a detailed blueprint for increasing the colleges' graduation rates. Jennifer Gonzalez, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jan. 20, 2011
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Second-guessing Red Flags, Action Taken in Tucson Case
The 2007 Virginia Tech massacre — the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history — prompted colleges nationwide to focus new scrutiny on mentally ill students who pose a danger to others on campus. Like most colleges, Pima Community College, where Jared Loughner had been a student until last fall, created teams to help assess whether students are potentially dangerous. Mary Beth Marklein and Brad Heath, USA Today, Jan. 12, 2011
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Why was it so hard to kick Loughner out of Pima Community College?
Before he was an accused killer, Loughner was for five years a student at Pima Community College. Throughout his fifth year, if not before, Loughner appears to have created an impressive amount of mayhem, until Sept. 29, when the college finally issued a letter of suspension, prompting Loughner's voluntary withdrawal on Oct. 4. What does a kid have to do these days to get kicked out of community college? Timothy Noah, Slate.com, Jan. 10, 2011
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Study less, earn more -- at least in the beginning
Florida employment data that track the earnings of recent graduates show those who earned a career-focused associate's degree or postsecondary certificate from a community college are in many cases making more money than bachelor's degree recipients at state universities. Michael Vasquez, Miami Herald, Jan. 1, 2011
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Community Colleges Provide Returns for Students, But State Subsidies Lag
Earning an associate's degree from a community college is not only significantly cheaper than earning a bachelor's degree from a four-year college, but the two-year degree provides almost the same return on investment, University of Connecticut economists say. Jacqueline Rabe, Connecticut Mirror, Dec. 8, 2010
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Community Colleges May Cost Some States More than Some 4-Year Universities
Conventional wisdom in higher education holds that educating students at two-year colleges will save both governments and students money. But a new study, by a former community-college administrator, challenges that assumption. His research concludes that it actually costs less to educate first- and second-year students at a four-year public master's-level university. At least one critic, however, says the study is flawed. Eric Kelderman, Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 10, 2010
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Community college class wait lists throw a wrench into students' plans
Enrollment in California's colleges has surged, but budget cuts leave many students unable to get the courses they need, meaning it'll take them longer to earn a degree and join the workforce. Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times, Oct. 4, 2010
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The Quest to Get Into Class
For many community colleges around the country this fall semester, the song remains the same. Yet again, enrollments are at an all-time high, and waiting lists for classes remain long, but the search continues for ways to accommodate the growing demand. David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed, Sept. 15, 2010
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Community Colleges Fighting to Cope
Community colleges are becoming lifesavers to students seeking a degree but unable to pay the skyrocketing costs of four-year colleges. Yet community colleges are struggling to cope with increased enrollment as their budgets are slashed by debt-laden states. Megan L. Thomas, MSNBC, Aug. 10, 2010
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California Is Set to Ease Path for Transfer Students
California lawmakers appear set to approve a major change in the transfer process for community-college students that would standardize the requirements for transferring from a two-year college to a California State University campus.Josh Keller, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 4, 2010
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Education transfers easier
Elementary education majors at Mississippi community colleges may soon find their transitions to universities easier.The state's two higher education systems recently reached an agreement to standardize course requirements for transfer students.Elizabeth Crisp, Clarion Ledger, April 27, 2010
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What should be on agenda for community college summit?
Take note, Jill Biden: Community College leaders have a lot they want to talk about at the White House summit you plan to host this fall. David Moltz, Inside Higher Ed, April 19, 2010
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A College Guarantees Job Offers — or Else a Refund
Money-back guarantees hardly seem to go with higher education. And offering them to prospective applicants during a recession sounds downright insane. But that's the sweetheart deal a community college in Michigan has started dangling to try to increase its enrollment. Beginning in May, people who take six-week courses in certain subjects will be guaranteed a job within a year — or else they'll be refunded their tuition money. Kristi Oloffson, Time Magazine, April 9, 2010
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Hope Amid Disappointment
After a year of high hopes, the apparent shedding of the Graduation Initiative from combined health care/student aid legislation has left many ommunity college officials deeply disappointed. David Moltz, Inside Higher Education, March 16, 2010
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Higher Ed’s Bermuda Triangle
Vast numbers of students enter community college remedial classes every year. Few are ever heard from again. Camille Esch, Washington Monthly Magazine, Sept. 4, 2009
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Dallas-Fort Worth community colleges' enrollments rise by double digits
North Texas may be emerging from the recession, but the jammed parking lots and long bookstore lines at local community colleges tell a different story. Local two-year public campuses are reporting double-digit growth in enrollment, an apparent delayed reaction to widespread financial pain. Holly Hacker, The Dallas Morning News, Sept. 2, 2009
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More White-Collar Workers Turn to Community Colleges
Hundreds of thousands of white-collar workers are taking advantage of the nation’s nearly 1,200 community colleges, with their low-cost courses and local campuses. Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, August 21, 2009
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In recession, attention and enrollment growing for community colleges
While considering the costs of a degree, Heather Lothrop decided that going to a four-year college was not an option, at least not immediately. Lothrop, 20, of South Nyack instead decided to stay close to home, save money and go to Rockland Community College. She recently graduated and is now headed to Fordham University. She plans to attend law school after that. Considering the economic downturn, she said she feels thankful she made her choice and is now continuing her education without being saddled with college loans. Ben Rubin, The Journal News, August 14, 2009
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Economy, desire for degrees fill Tennessee community colleges
In a bad economy, a good education is looking more and more attractive to Tennesseans. Community colleges around the state are reporting a flood of new and returning students looking to bolster their job prospects with degrees. Jennifer Brooks, The Tennessean, August 12, 2009
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Two Years is a Good Start
Saving a load of cash is a universal virtue. But to students, the real attraction of a two-year school is the list of benefits that people on the outside never actually see. Daniel Stone, Newsweek, August 12, 2009
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Community colleges trying to weather the funding-cut storm
Times are tough for community colleges, and getting tougher their students who are finding themselves in the system longer than expected. Lack of funding, tuition increase, reduction of classes, limited enrollment and the halt of mid-year transfers is putting a strain on two-year schools. As the California State University system continues to limit their enrollment and stop mid-year transfers, those seeking a higher education end up knocking on the doors of their local two-year schools, and those looking to transfer are left with no choice but to delay their plans for higher education. Canan Tasci, The San Bernadino Sun, August 10, 2009
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Donors have a new view of community colleges
The recent national spotlight on community colleges is increasingly helping two-year colleges with their fund-raising efforts, especially in generating major gifts. Community College Times, August 3, 2009.
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For Community Colleges, Federal Aid Would Come With Strings Attached
When President Obama announced last month that he would spend $9-billion on grants to improve community colleges, presidents of two-year campuses knew the money would come with strings attached. But the extent of those strings took some college leaders by surprise. Kelly Field, The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 29, 2009
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The Obama Plan
President Obama, as he promised he would, placed community colleges Tuesday in the center of his plans to revitalize the American economy. He proposed billions in new spending -- for job training programs, improvements in basic skills education, facilities and free online education -- to focus on two-year institutions. Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Education, July 15, 2009
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Remarks By President Obama on the American Graduation Initiative
Read President Obama's proposal to provide American community colleges $12 billion to help retrain workers, jumpstart the economy and have five million Americans earn degrees and certificates by 2020. Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, July 15, 2009
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Can Community Colleges Save the U.S. Economy?
Community colleges are deeply unsexy. This fact tends to make even the biggest advocates of these two-year schools — which educate nearly half of U.S. undergraduates — sound defensive, almost a tad whiny.But there's at least one Ivy Leaguer who is trying to help Americans get past the stereotypes and start thinking about community college not as a dumping ground but as one of the best tools the U.S. has to dig itself out of the current economic hole. His name: Barack Obama. Laura Fitzpatrick, Time Magazine, July 14, 2009
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Obama Plans Cash Infusion for Community Colleges
President Obama will propose a $12 billion investment in the nation's community colleges today, arguing that the money will drive expansions and reforms in the system that are needed to help people get educated in the struggling economy. Michael D. Shear, The Washington Post, July 14, 2009
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Bleak Economy Squeezes Community Colleges
The fall session is still weeks away, but you wouldn't know it from the recent activity at the registration and admissions office on the campus of Miami Dade College. By 7 a.m. — an hour before opening — students are lined up waiting to enroll and to sign up for classes. Administrators say there are more students looking to attend this fall than they've ever seen before.In large part, it's because of the economy. Greg Allen, National Public Radio, July 10, 2009
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California's community colleges having a swell time
by Tony Barboza and Gale Holland
Recent high school graduates and mid-career adults are flocking to community colleges this fall as California campuses report enrollment jumps tied to the weak economy. Administrators say that when the economy dips, enrollment at community colleges typically surges. This fall, students are banking on these modest workhorses of California's higher education system to ease their way through the economic downturn, opting for the closer, cheaper alternatives to state universities.
The Los Angeles Times, 9/7/2008
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'Turning point' arrives as U.S. community colleges' purview grows
by Mary Beth Marklein
By Betty Young's count, it's been nearly three years since Jay Leno has made any cracks at the expense of community colleges. Young, a graduate and longtime president of community colleges, considers Leno's silence on the subject these days a victory. Perhaps more important, her public relations trek served as a sort of rallying cry for community college leaders nationwide. Tired of their image as the Rodney Dangerfields of higher education, they have become increasingly vocal in their demand for respect.
USA Today, 7/23/2008
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One fish, two fish, cosine of Q fish
by Gale Holland
In China, competitive math teams are groomed and cosseted like college football squads. And in Vietnam, a television show called "Go to Olympia" tracks math contestants almost as if they were budding American Idols. So it's no surprise that when Pasadena City College's math team won a national contest this year, six of the members were Chinese-born and the other Vietnamese.
The Los Angeles Times, 6/24/2008
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Student Loans Start to Bypass 2-Year Colleges
by Jonathan D. Glater
Some of the nation's biggest banks have closed their doors to students at community colleges, for-profit universities and other less competitive institutions, even as they continue to extend federally backed loans to students at the nation's top universities.
The New York Times, 6/2/2008
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Students Fail - and Professor Loses Job
by Scott Jaschik
Who is to blame when students fail? If many students fail - a majority even - does that demonstrate faculty incompetence, or could it point to a problem with standards? These are the questions at the center of a dispute that cost Steven D. Aird his job teaching biology at Norfolk State University in Va.
Inside Higher Ed, 5/14/2008
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Officials clamoring for development of workers
by Marsha Sills
On any given day, the lab technician who will one day screen your blood for disease or the welder who will help build ships at state ports is being trained at one of Louisiana's technical colleges. The state's community and technical colleges are one of the primary sources for Louisiana's work force, offering programs that train skilled workers who drive the economy. But the 47 campuses aren't attracting or turning out enough students to respond to employers' needs. It's estimated that in the next four years, the system will have to triple its enrollment of 52,000 to sustain the state's economic growth.
The Shreveport Times, 4/11/2008
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Studying the world's largest college system
by Matt Krupnick
The California community college system has grown unwieldy when it needs to be flexible. The Contra Costa Times examines the overwhelming challenges facing community colleges. Stories explore links between vocational programs and California's economy, the obstacles that prevent students from transferring to universities and the startling math and English problems that have come to overload colleges. In addition, it looks at the choices perplexing lawmakers, administrators and educators, and some solutions that might make a two-year education practical and meaningful.
The Contra Costa Times, 3/23/2008
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Political Explosion on Undocumented Students
by Elizabeth Redden
A recent legal memo from the North Carolina Community College System office broadening the definition of "open door" admissions sparked a firestorm across the state. The community college system must now admit "undocumented individuals" as out-of-state residents.
Inside Higher Education, 12/5/2007
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Smoking ban stubbed out at colleges
by Paige Parker
Typical Oregon smokers -- poor, young, with little or no advanced education -- look much like the typical community college student, one reason tobacco foes are pressing the state's campuses to ban smoking outright. It's the latest in a long line of moves to extinguish smoking in public places, protecting the health of those who don't smoke and giving those who do a reason to quit. But a year into the tobacco-free college initiative, none of Oregon's 17 community colleges has adopted a campuswide ban.
The Oregonian, 10/26/2007
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A college president is gone: How it happened
by Katie Kerwin Mccrimmon
The Rocky Mountain News explores the Colorado Community College system and the firing of a popular president and diversity in leadership in a three-part series.
The Rocky Mountain News, 9/25/2007
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The Rise of the Gap Year
by Ian Shapira
Billy Neville was flipping through the humongous Fiske Guide to Colleges last fall when his mother told him something unexpected: "Keep in mind, you don't really have to go to college next year." Ultimately, Neville deferred his enrollment for a year, joining the growing number of students who take a "gap year" -- time off between high school and college. Gap-year consultants who charge $1,000 or more to advise students on how to fill the time have emerged.
The Washington Post, 8/5/2007
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In California, Community College Graduation Rates Disappoint
by Justin Pope
For most of history, higher education has been reserved for a tiny elite. For a glimpse of a future where college is open to all, visit California -- the place that now comes closest to that ideal. The state ranks near the top in terms of getting students in the door of higher education. The only problem is that its batting average moving them out -- either with a degree or by transferring to a four-year school -- ranks near the bottom.
Associated Press via The Washington Post, 7/14/2007
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Working poor face special challenges in completing college
by Elizabeth Redden
The conundrum faced by the working poor: "They understand that enrolling in college and earning a degree will help them improve their skills and increase their earnings potential. However, given their work and other responsibilities, it is difficult for them to enroll full time, thus making it harder for them to receive financial aid and complete the classes necessary for a degree," according to a new report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy.
Inside Higher Ed, 7/10/2007
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The Two-Year Attraction
Two-year colleges receive less than 30 percent of state and local financing for higher education. Yet they are growing much faster than four-year colleges and universities, enrolling nearly half of all undergraduates. EWA Vice President John Merrow and others developed this multimedia package examining community colleges and the students who attend them for Education Life.
The New York Times, 4/22/2007
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America's Best Community Colleges
by Kevin Carey
Community colleges now represent a huge slice of the higher education pie: 43 percent of college freshmen begin their education at two-year institutions. Washington Monthly has combined analysis of school surveys with data on graduation rates to compile the first-ever list of the thirty best community colleges in America. The list busts many widely held myths about what community colleges are capable of and the inherent superiority of four-year schools, according to the story.
The Washington Monthly, 6/1/2007
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Forget Yale -- Go State
by Kathleen Day
College sophomore Carli McGoff could have attended the University of Maryland directly from high school, but she opted instead to attend community college for two years on a merit scholarship and live at home before transferring to a four-year institution as a junior. Her parents calculate the decision saved them $26,000. As the price of college has skyrocketed, millions of middle- and upper-middle-class families like the McGoffs have juggled to find ways to keep pace.
Washington Post, 1/29/2007
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Taking Spanish to the next level
by Susan Snyder
At one North Philadelphia college campus, Spanish-speaking students learn English while taking other courses in a two-year associate degree program. Most classes are in Spanish the first semester; by the third, almost all are in English, and students must complete a 12-page research paper in English to earn a degree. While such bilingual approaches occur regularly in lower education, they are much more rare at the college level, officials say.
Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/29/2007
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