For most of the last century, community colleges were
designed to expand students' access to higher education. But in recent years,
they've been asked to put unemployed Americans back to work, quickly prepare
students for specific technology jobs, and catapult others into four-year
institutions, according a report released today by the American Association of
Community Colleges.
"Now, there's a focus on accountability," says
Walter Bumphus, president of the AACC. "We were founded on the premise of
being open-access institutions, but recently there's been a pivot to focus more
on student success. There's a focus not just on having them transfer [to
four-year schools], but on getting them into the workforce."
[Learn seven steps to success at community college.]
But despite that increased focus on excellence, community
colleges are still struggling to graduate students. According to the report, reclaiming
the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation's Future, less than half
of students who enter a community college graduate or transfer to a four-year
college within six years.
Still, the number of students enrolled in America's 1,200
community colleges has skyrocketed. In 2000, about 5.5 million degree-seeking
students attended two-year colleges. In the 2010-2011 school year, that number
jumped to more than 8 million.
Bumphus attributes that jump to the economic downturn—a
year's tuition at a community college costs less than $3,000 on average,
compared to more than $8,000 annually for in-state tuition at a four year
college—as well as community colleges' reputation for training students for
jobs.
[Learn about scholarships for community college
students.]
"I think people realize community colleges can be a
vehicle to get them into the working world a lot quicker," he says.
"Folks also figured out that the quality of the courses in freshman and
sophomore year at community colleges were comparable or better than four-year
schools."
Community colleges have typically served important
demographic— students who either couldn’t afford four-year institutions or
people who are returning to school after a break. According to the report, more
than 40 percent of community college students are first-generation college
attendees, and more than half are older than 22 years old. About 15 percent of
community college students already have a bachelor's degree and are returning
for a career change.
Over the past several decades, the percentage of the
American workforce with associate degrees has sky rocked: In 1973, just 12
percent of the workforce had an associate degree. By 2007, that figure was 27
percent, and is expected to grow to 29 percent by 2018.
While there are many community colleges doing good work,
Bumphus says significant improvements need to be made if they want to become
the "community career centers" that President Obama suggested in this
year's State of the Union address, when he set a goal of training 2 million
Americans with skills that lead directly to a job.
Bumphus says community colleges need to develop better
diagnostic tests to determine students' skill deficiencies so they can enter
the correct remedial classes.
Read about how states push remedial education to
community colleges.]
"I think generally most community colleges are
laser-focused on preparing students for a job, but some are doing a better job
than others," he says. "We need to do a better job of moving the bar
and graduating more students."
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