Community Colleges

Community colleges have roots dating back to the 1900’s and became more homogenous with the help of the 1960’s California Master Plan for Higher Education. In the past, community colleges were tuition-free or subsidized by local property taxes and state appropriations (Cohen, M. & Brawer, F. 2008). Currently, community college financing has been unpredictable “due to the discretionary nature of state support and the vagaries of funding initiatives” (Phelan, 2014, pg. 7). Nevertheless, colleges continue to be dependent on state appropriations and local property taxes as the primary source of revenue. Due to the instability associated with appropriations, community colleges must develop dynamic budgets that have the capacity to overcome fluctuations in revenue and enable the college to offer affordable access to higher education to its constituents.

America needs higher education institutions to offer an education for its citizens that is vital for the workforce. Thus, a measured education that goes beyond a fragmented curriculum is essential for the learning college. Wingspread Group on Higher Education (1993) states that uneducated graduates reveal a trivialized education that does not prepare students for life. Therefore, instructions without proof of its effectives is no longer prudent for institutions of higher education. Learning outcomes assessment includes community colleges (Linck, 2004; Panopto, 2010; Nunley, Bers, & Manning, 2011). Community colleges provide access for over 10 million students each year, representing nearly half of America’s undergraduates

In Alina Tugend’s article, “Revamping Community Colleges to Improve Graduation Rates,” several points are discussed regarding graduation rates and what community colleges can complete by reforming the structure of the schools. Many of the points discussed cover topics of problems with remedial classes, tuition costs, and inadequate student-to-advisor ratios among community colleges across the nation. I found that, with the progression of Tugend’s sentences, I agreed exponentially with everything she wrote. Reforming community colleges will improve graduation rates by allowing remedial classes to benefit students rather than hinder them, lowering the overall cost of college, and providing more advisors to help with students’ needs.

Anderson, M. (2014). Cosmopolitans or locals: Who will lead the next generation of community colleges? Community College Journal of Research, 48 (12), 1168-1179. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10668926.2012.754732

The book After Admission highlights institutional challenges as a contributing factor for college failure among disadvantaged students. Though community college enrollment rates have doubled in the last thirty years, the level of efficiency of community colleges remains under scrutiny

Attending a community college usually makes people cringe. It is not the first pick of an average high school student. Community colleges are hardly ever advertised however, the traditional four-year schools are. Throughout all four years of high school the word university is drilled into student brains so exploring the idea of attending a community college does not stand a chance. The football and basketball teams, the sororities and fraternities, to having the bragging rights for attending a well-known university is what students imagine when going to college. Even though students transfer from community colleges into four-year schools, the idea of attending community college is perceived to be the easy way out or a lack of effort. In the

This paper will discuss community colleges, and their importance to the American Higher Education System. The author of this paper will also attempt to provide an overview of enrollment trends and the makeup of the American Community College; further this paper will summarize some pivotal discussion items from the Cohen & Kisker, (2010) text to give the reader a board understanding of key points.

Community colleges are in a unique position to affect local economies positively as they transform from interludes between high school and universities. There is no plateau indication since society's perception of the relationship of work to education continues to resonate within American culture.

Christopher Shults article, “Remedial Education Practices and Policies in Community Colleges”, points out, “due to this open door policy, community colleges have frequently served students deemed insufficiently prepared for college-level courses” (Shults). Both types of colleges are made up of different demographics. Juan Calcagno and Henry Levin discuss the diversity of students in, “Remediation in Community College”. Community colleges serve four distinct groups of people, they receive students who have performed poorly in high schools, either in one subject or multiple subjects, students who have poor study habits or mild to serious learning disabilities, students classified as non-traditional or older, as well as immigrant populations who typically struggle with the English language (Calcagno and Levin). The vast difference in population for the two-year system drives the statistical data that, “more than 60% of first-time community college students […] took at least one remedial course, compared to 29% of first-time students in public 4-year institutions” (Calcagno and Levin). Due to the high number of students in these courses, developmental education in community colleges has become a

The future of community colleges ultimately lies in continuing to prove its relevance. While four-year institutions are continuing to exist and an influx of for-profit and online institutions have risen; community colleges have to demonstrate that they play a significant role in society. Past years indicate that the purpose of community colleges has been difficult to understand because there have been many perceptions that have been created concerning their existence. The legitimacy of contemporary community colleges is questioned because it is difficult to make an overall assessment of their purpose (Pusser and Levin, 2009).

Every year thousands of individuals are faced with questions about college. These questions, whether it be committing to a community college or a university or deciding to commute or live on campus, determine the course a students’ life takes while in college. Finding a college that fits each individual person and their unique needs is a difficult task that takes time and patience. I believe revamping the structure of community colleges will benefit students of all ages. Remodeling the acceptance and tuition requirements, as well as ensuring more personal one-on-one time with advisors, will not only make choosing a college easier for students, but will also help improve graduation rates in college students across the globe.

The greatest challenge for American higher education today is how to improve the success of developmental education students. Having a postsecondary degree is often the difference between having a career and living comfortably or holding a minimum wage job and struggling to make ends meet. Gabriel (2008), reports that nearly half of higher education students do not have the necessary skills needed in reading to perform successfully and faculty insist these students are not prepared. Community colleges plays a pivotal role in education and give students the opportunity to sharpen their skills, personal relations, and receive needed assistance to decide their future goals. Community colleges serve nearly half of the undergraduate students in the United States. With their open door policy and low tuition, community colleges are an important pathway for students.

It is quite easy to see that all the admissions frills and promises from the other forms of colleges have been washed away by necessity. For example, the Athens Tech websitre doesn’t have any calls for adventure, just like they don’t advertise any minimum SAT scores or grade point averages (Admissions Athens Tech). The community college simply tells people how to apply with no extra attempts to draw in specific students, because they are deeply rooted in the idea that, if the people need job retraining, they will come to us, because that is the community college’s primary purpose. It is not exclusive in anyway, letting in students from all walks of like, high school students, high school dropouts, adults, etc. and offering them the possiblity of simply training them for regional specific jobs or letting them gain college credit before they move onto a larger institution. This results in community colleges disregarding the idea that there is a certain student that they are looking for, they simply allow to get the education that they feel is vital to them and their career, which makes admissions into community college the antithesis to that of liberal arts colleges, because the college offers education to as any as possible, not on the critirea of what can they bring to the institution, but how can the institution serve the students in the best way possible in order to secure their

Community colleges serve many functions in the American higher education system. They serve local populations, offer foundational coursework, and serve as the home of many occupational training programs (Dougherty & Townsend, 2006). Recently, a new function has emerged: the granting of baccalaureate degrees, also known as the community college bachelor’s degree (CCB). This type of degree was established in 2001 by the state of Florida and is continuing to gain popularity throughout North America (Bemmel, Floyd, & Bryan, 2008).While there are several critics of the CCB (Eaton, 2005; Levin, 2004; Wattenberger, 2000), most of the literature is supportive of

This reaction paper will discuss the issue of increasing access to higher education while increasing student success, higher transfer rates, and more baccalaureate degree attainment. Is it possible that maybe we have become so reactive in higher education that we have neglected to stop, listen, and create an environment that is proactive? We can create a proactive educational system by understanding our student population. The students who are entering the community college setting are students with different “ability and academic preparedness, gender, race or ethnicity, and life circumstances” (Cohen, Brawer, & Kisker, 2013, p. 46). I think it is important to understand what the student’s intent is once they enroll in the community