Community Colleges Community Ties PDF - ed

[Pages:4]Com m unit y Tie s

Com m unit y colleges can provide a wealt h of opport unit ies for st udent s looking for less expensive or less overwhelm ing college options.

By Pat St anley

When we talk to young people about their choices for post- secondary education, it's im portant to rem em ber com m unity colleges are am ong the best options for m any students and for m any reasons. As Washingt on Post report er Jay Mat hews said, " The com m unit y college syst em in t he Unit ed St at es represent s an egalit arian approach t o higher educat ion t hat doesn't exist elsewhere in t he world." The College Board in a recent report said, " [ Com m unit y colleges are] t he " Ellis I sland of Am erican Higher Educat ion, t he crossroads at which K? 12 educat ion m eet s higher educat ion, and t he inst it ut ions t hat give st udent s t he t ools t o navigat e t he m odern world." Mat hews and t he College Board were bot h correct t o best ow such praises on t hese in st it u t ion s.

Com m unit y colleges do not have adm ission barriers such as a st udent 's previous academ ic perform ance or his or her SAT or ACT scores. Whether 18 or 80, part- tim e or full- , the door is open for all st udent s t o at t end. The sam e inst it ut ion t hat plays a m aj or role in workforce developm ent for career- changers is also hom e t o m any first - generat ion college st udent s. Com m unit y colleges exist t o serve all, and they receive high m arks when it com es t o serving those who would otherwise not be able to attend college. However, t his reputation for access m ay, at tim es, stand in the way of being the college of choice for m any st udents.

Regret t ably t oo m any m ay view com m unit y college as " 13t h or 14th grade" or sim ply as an educational option for older adults who want t o ret urn t o school. As form er president of Frederick Com m unit y College ( FCC) , I can at t est t o t he fact t hat Com m unit y College is a " Baccalaureat e Level College" and t hat st udent s can leave prepared for careers in such fields as nursing and inform ation system s m anagem ent or for t ransfer int o four- year inst it ut ions. The college t hat serves " all" has been t he st art ing ground for such not ables as PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer, ast ronaut Eileen Collins, Jam es Sinegal, CEO of Cost co, and form er Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening.

I n 2006, t he Bureau of Labor St at ist ics not ed 90 percent of t he fastest- growing j obs now require som e form of post- secondary

1

education or t raining, but in an era when access to post-secondary education is vital, t he cost of a college education continues to rise, m aking it less and less affordable for students and their fam ilies. According t o t he findings from t he Secret ary of Educat ion's Com m ission on t he Fut ure of Higher Educat ion in 2006, t he cost of attending a four- year institution has outpaced inflation, health care and fam ily incom e levels. The Nat ional Associat ion for College Adm ission Counseling ( NACAC) and t he Proj ect on St udent Debt released a recent national survey in which 78 percent of high school counselors say that students' and parents' concerns about loan debt affect whether or not and where students go to college. While these troubling statistics m ay be, by them selves, reason enough for every high school counselor to recom m end com m unity colleges t o students, the low tuition at these institutions is only one of the m any reasons to " think com m unity college."

Many high school st udent s who walk t hrough your door don't know yet what t hey want t o do in life. Com m unit y colleges offer m any classes these students can take while they learn what program s they want to pursue without the overwhelm ing financial consequences of indecision pressuring t hem . For highly m ot ivat ed st udent s, on t he other hand, who are focused on what they want to do and looking for m ore of a challenge, com m unity colleges also offer honors program s or courses. At FCC, honors st udent s who had st rong academ ic records and had done well on t he AP exam s, SAT and ACT t est s, or FCC placem ent tests were part of the special and challenging Honors College.

While the ultim ate goal for m any students is a bachelor's degree, there are those students with m ore career- oriented program s in m ind. Many j obs in high- growt h fields, such as com put er t echnology, allied health care and construction fields require a certificate or associate of applied science ( AAS) degree, which often are only available at com m unity colleges.

Com m unit y colleges are flexible providers of educat ion and workforce t raining. The nearly 1,200 com m unit y colleges across t his country are adept at responding to the needs of the com m unities they serve as well as responding t o t he j obs t rends in t he Unit ed St at es as a whole. I n the post 9/ 11 era, com m unity colleges have been responsible for certifying nearly 80 percent of first responders (police officers, firefight ers and em ergency m edical t echnicians) and have produced m ore than 60 percent of new nurses and other health- care

2

professionals, according to figures provided by the Am erican Associat ion of Com m unit y Colleges ( AACC) .

I was honored to give this year's com m encem ent speech at Waubonsee Com m unit y College in Waubonsee, I ll. This college is on t he m ove. As a part of it s " 2020 College Mast er Plan ? A Vision for t he Fut ure," Waubonsee opened a new st at e- of- t he- art science building designed to enhance the learning experience of those studying biology, chem ist ry, eart h sciences, geography and geology. The facilit y has several high- tech labs as well as a weather station and seism ograph that allow students to access real-tim e weather and data relevant to eart hquakes. Earlier I was int roduced t o t he new Healt h and Science Cent er at Norwalk Com m unit y College in Norwalk, Conn. This facilit y, which was developed with the assistance of three local hospitals, has classroom s designed like patient- care room s at each hospital and also includes the latest m edical technology for students to use. Sophist icat ed learning facilit ies such as t hese are found on com m unit y college cam puses across the country and yet the cost per year to attend them is still com parable to that of buying a new com puter.

While class sizes at m aj or universities m ay be overwhelm ing to som e first - tim e students, at com m unity colleges students benefit from sm aller class sizes and t eacher- t o- st udent rat ios. They also have increased access to professors whose prim ary function is to teach and help students succeed because research is not part of their m ission as is the case for faculty at m any four- year institutions.

Transitioning On

Just as com m unit y colleges suffer from som e of t he m isconcept ions that I m entioned earlier, they also have to overcom e students' fears that they will not m ake it at a four- year college should they choose a com m unit y college first . Research shows t hat while som e com m unit y college students go through " transfer shock," m uch like a high school student first attending college, transfer students do j ust as well if not bet t er t han t hose st udent s who began at four- year colleges. Ot hers are concerned about transferability of credits from a two- year college t o a four- year inst it ut ion. There has been a growing m ovem ent am ong policym akers at the local, state and national levels to address this part icular concern. Transit ions have been a focus of our office. We have m any dedicated professionals here working on career pathways designed to ease the transition from secondary t o post- secondary and from two- year to four-year colleges. I n pursuit of this goal, we have conduct ed a num ber of conference calls, Podcast s, forum s and

3

sum m its specific to this issue of transferability, and our office is providing proj ect funds t o assist st at es in developing art iculat ion agreem ents to ensure sm ooth and successful transitions.

Transferring from a t wo- year college t o a four- year cont inues t o be a priorit y of com m unit y colleges across t he count ry. The original m ission of the j unior ( now com m unity) college was to provide the first two years of a four- year college, and although the m ission has expanded, com m unity colleges are still com m itted to ensuring the successful transfer of their st udents to four- year institutions. I nvited to give t he com m encem ent address t his year t o graduat es of Cum berland Count y College, in Vineland, N.J., I saw first hand t he work t hat t he college was doing t o t his end t hrough it s Universit y Cent er. Through a partnership with several four- year institutions and universities, Cum berland Count y College has offered it s resident s t he opport unit y t o work toward a four-year or m aster's degree without having to leave t he area. Com m unit y colleges across t he count ry are providing sim ilar higher degree program s on t heir cam puses.

I n 1901, J. St anley Brown, superint endent of Joliet , I ll., Township High School, and William Rainey Harper, president of t he Universit y of Chicago, seeking t o offer t he opport unit y for area resident s t o at t end college wit hout leaving t he area, opened Joliet Junior College, generally recognized as t he oldest cont inuously operat ing com m unit y college by t he Encyclopedia of Educat ion. A handful of students were enrolled at the college that would pave the way for an Am erican tradition of offering post- secondary education opportunities to all.

Today, com m unit y colleges are m eet ing t he needs of m ore t han 11 m illion students of all ages with m any different educational expect at ions. Fort y- six percent of all U.S. undergraduat es have t aken advantage of a quality, affordable education at a location near them . Shouldn't com m unity colleges be a top choice for your students too?

Pat St anley, is deput y assist ant secret ary, U.S. Depart m ent of Educat ion, Office of Vocat ional and Adult Educat ion.

4

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download