Heidi Johnston dreams of being a speech pathologist. But ironically the 25-year-old, who graduated with a degree in communication sciences and disorders, has become a Ph.D.-level savant at something else entirely: Figuring out the increasingly complex puzzle of community colleges.She first started out at a little community college not far from her home in Spring Grove, Illinois, in 2004. Her goal: Pursue her studies there for a few years while working part-time, transfer to a four-year institution to complete her degree, and save a bundle in the process.
And she did. But all around her, she saw the collateral damage of the slashed funding and spiking enrollment that are plaguing community colleges around the nation. Required classes fill up, credits sometimes turn out not to be transferable, and student dreams get delayed. Johnston too ran into some roadblocks, with a cap on transferred credits that meant she spent money to take some courses for no reason.
"People who are just jumping into it, don't know how to maneuver the system to their advantage," she said. "You have to be very careful in how you plan your classes, and already have in mind the school you're going to transfer to, or you could potentially waste a whole lot of time."
One might say this is the heavy price of popularity. Community colleges are currently home to more than 13 million students across the country, with enrollment that skyrocketed 22 percent between 2007 and 2011.
It is no wonder why. The average annual bill for a local community college is a relatively affordable $2,963, according to the College Board. Compare that with other options like public four-year colleges, which average $8,244 a year for in-state students, and private universities, which now average a whopping $28,500. In an era when total student debt has surpassed $1 trillion, a cheaper educational option is a natural winner.
But a perfect storm of factors is making community colleges less than an automatic choice.
FULL ARTICLE.
Sad, recycled story but sadder still is the quality of the writing.
ReplyDeleteNo, what's sadder is that average $8K for in-state students at 4-year schools, when my own is $15K and counting upward to $25K over the next three years.
ReplyDeleteHow nice that our aspiring corporate overlords get a tax break, though. Why do I keep saying aspiring?
DeleteThat's just sick, F&T. Frod, sometimes I say that we all just work for McWalBucks anyway. Y'know, people near the tops of hierarchies score higher on scales of sociopathy.
DeleteMany of the difficulties the article describes are easily avoided by having a major and transfer institution in mind when enrolling, actually visiting an academic adviser before the enrollment period starts, and not taking more classes than one's schedule can accommodate. We at the CCs have far too many students who practically wander in off the streets and want to "go to college" having no idea what that means.
ReplyDeleteUntil my own system recently did away with late registration, having students put into a class during the third week was not uncommon. When I was first hired, I was appalled by this practice and would complain regularly to my chair and colleagues. I had a conversation with one of my mentors that went something like this:
EnglishDoc: If we want students to succeed, we should want them in class the first day. The type of student who comes in the third week of class is likely to drop or fail anyway, so why not have that student wait till the start of the flex term to pick up a class? At least then they'd have a chance.
Silverback Mentor: Oh, we do want them to succeed, but it's all about access. We have to give them that chance.
EnglishDoc: It's not fair to the other students in class, and we're setting them up to fail!
Silverback Mentor: We care about our students so much that we're willing to give them the access no matter what. We have to give them the opportunity. They can then choose to fail.
EnglishDoc: [face/palm]
I have the same conversations but everybody knows that we do it because of the extra money.
DeleteCommunity colleges are filters, plain and simple. Students have equality of opportunity and access, but not equality of outcome, which is fine by me. Losers should lose. That's why they're called "losers." Furthermore, any student taking non-transferrable courses has his/her head up his/her ass if he/she wants to transfer. Call it an intelligence test and let them screw up.
ReplyDeleteThe problem we're running into is the taxpayers are tired of shelling out cash so Timmy can find his ass with both hands and a flashlight. States are starting to demand more accountability from us because we are so heavily subsidized. Large Urban Community College serves a poor population, but our tuition is so low that pretty much anyone with a Pell can go full time and still have money left over. The rest comes from the state and our local taxing district with some made up by donors to our scholarships. In return for all that cash, few students actually end up graduating or completing a transfer program. They meander around, take a few courses here and there, drop out, or transfer after they've gotten their feet wet but don't have enough credits accumulated for any kind of credential. We get no credit for producing successful transfer students if they don't graduate from our CC.
DeleteIt used to be OK to use college as a place to discover yourself. Now budgets are so tight, the leg is saying they can't afford that anymore. They want students walking in the door with a major and career in mind. They want us to tell the students exactly what to do and when to do it so they finish quickly. It's assembly line education: pick out the kind of widget you want to make, follow the steps exactly, and get to the end of the line as fast as you can. Some of our admins have even batted around the idea of not just a completely prescribed curriculum but also an actual schedule, as in "If you are a basket weaving major, you will be attending classes on X days at Y times your whole time here. Here is your schedule for the next two years." God forbid they have any flexibility.
Community colleges are filters, plain and simple. Students have equality of opportunity and access, but not equality of outcome, which is fine by me. Losers should lose. That's why they're called "losers." Furthermore, any student taking non-transferrable courses has his/her head up his/her ass if he/she wants to transfer. Call it an intelligence test and let them screw up.
ReplyDelete"Losers should lose."
ReplyDeleteBut what about phone losers?
www.phonelosers.org
www.cactiradio.com/phoneshow/
I tell my students over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over to PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD check every course with their target transfer school. I tell them that what they SHOULD do is check out our transfer agreements (we have many) and choose one that will transfer to their four year of choice. I tell them to call their four year of choice and ask about their transfer agreements with junior colleges and then to go to one of those colleges instead.
ReplyDeleteThey just won't listen. They won't. I mean, damn, some of them do Some of them really work the system and make it pay off. Sure, you have to keep your head up and look into it, but if you do, you can get through without wasting a single minute of your time.
But so many of them just don't listen. They truly do have their heads up their asses. I think, sometimes, that people value things according to what they pay for them. So many of my very poor students are paying nothing for their time at Inner City Community College, and therefore, they just don't value it as much as they should until they get closer to the gravy train running dry, and by then it is too late.