Can be an excellent choice…
I am a product of the community college system and I am aware of what the community college system can do for those who choose to begin their educational career at a community college. The following is my research review on community colleges with references included:
History and Mission of the Community College
Higher education in the United States of America has always been held in high esteem. As a nation we stress the importance of education and how it can serve as a tool to help those cross financial and socioeconomic boundaries. Education is seen as the answer to a lot of the challenges and issues that face the United States of America. There is a belief that being educated will allow someone to have the opportunity to experience a better life, and more financial gain throughout his or her lives. This thought process is embedded in children at a young age. There are programs that institutions of higher education (IHE’s) have that are meant to expose children to higher education opportunities. The programs IHE’s have serve students at the K-12 level, but it is more common for programs to start targeting students at the middle school level.
These programs can be self funded by IHE’s or they can be part of the TRIO programs, which are grant-funded programs by the federal government. These TRIO programs are “Federal outreach and student services programs designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. TRIO includes eight programs targeted to serve and assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to postbaccalaureate programs” (http://www2.ed.gov). TRIO programs start recruiting students at the middle school level in order to provide them, and expose them to as much information as possible in regards to higher education options.
The federal government has deemed the exposure to higher education options as valuable for students, and for the development of our nation. For those students who decide they would like to pursue higher education opportunities they are faced with many options. A student graduating from high school has plenty of higher education options to choose from. There are public and private four-year IHE’s, public, independent, and tribal two-year IHE’s, and there has been an emergence of for-profit or proprietary IHE’s within the last couple of years.
Each institution previously mentioned will be unique it its own way. The types of educational programs they offer, the co-curricular activities offered, and the cost of tuition and fees will vary dramatically by institution. Cost is usually a determining factor for a lot of students, especially first-generation college students, or students with very little knowledge about the college process, or for those looking to be cost efficient in pursuing their higher education endeavors.
As a result, two-year community colleges have seen an increase in their enrollment in the last couple of years due to their open admissions policies and relatively reasonable tuition rates. Typically, community colleges are also situated within the community they serve. This makes it easier for students to attend who want to stay close to home or family. Miller, Pope, & Steinmann (2005), mention that students decide to attend community colleges for two reasons. Deficiency reasons, and defined purposes reasons. When exploring deficiency reasons we typically associate this with students who did not meet the standards for admissions at another IHE or a student who is not “smart” enough to attend a four-year IHE. Unfortunately, this contributes to the negative stereotype of community college students, and does little to help the image of the community college student. Conversely, you have students who attend a community college for a defined purpose. These are students who attend a community college for a specific program and usually have a defined plan of action. They are using the community college as a springboard to further their education. Whatever reason a student decides to attend a community college they will be welcomed by the open admissions policy, and as Roman (2007) notes, “By extending educational opportunity beyond the elites of society for who it was once reserved, community college open doors to employment and higher paying jobs, help build the tax base and develop persons who contribute to the political and local community” (p.19).
To understand what makes the community college system unique we must first seek to understand the history of community colleges and their missions. According to the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC):
“Community colleges first emerged in the 20th century when local and national leaders realized a need for a more skilled workforce. The high school-based community college, as first developed at Central High School in Joliet, Ill. was the most successful type of addition. Meanwhile, small, private colleges such as Indiana’s Vincennes University had fashioned an effective model of higher education grounded on the principles of small classes, close student-faculty relations and a program that included both academics and extracurricular activities” (American Association of Community Colleges, 2011).
From small humble roots the vision and mission of community colleges is still alive today. The need for a strong and skilled workforce is still an issue our nation faces today and community colleges have the potential to be great contributors in addressing the diverse needs of the nation. Today community colleges serve many purposes and a wide range of learner needs. Community colleges traditionally will offer associate degree options, certificate options, transfer curriculum options, developmental education options, and life long learning options. With all of the offerings at a community college individuals will often find an academic program to meet their needs.
Associate degree options serve as an avenue for students to gain workforce training, and academic preparation for the possibility of transfer or straight to the workforce. Certificate programs of study at the community college level serve as a way for students to complete a “quick” program of study that involves taking fewer courses than those seeking an associate’s degree. A certificate can be obtained within a couple of semesters. Typically, once a student receives a certificate they might opt to test the job market.
Transfer curriculum options at the community college level have become increasingly popular with the rise of tuition at four-year universities. Finney and Kelly (2004) note that the tuition practices are usually narrowly framed into one of the following ways—all which tend to raise tuition levels: Tuition based on selected “peer” institutions, tuition defined as a fixed share of total educational costs, tuition rates established to “back-fill” revenue losses when state appropriations decline. (Finney & Kelly, 2004, p.55). With tuition on the rise at all levels community colleges can serve as a cost effective way for completing credits before students transfer to a four-year university.
Then there are developmental education needs the community college aims to serve. Developmental education at the community college level is becoming more, and more popular due the lack of academic skills that students are coming to community colleges with. Developmental education is meant to help get students up to par with skills that will be necessary for them to be successful in college. Developmental education courses can be challenging, since most students in developmental education courses lack basic fundamental skills needed to be successful in college. Developmental education can be a long tedious process for students to complete depending on their skill levels, which are determined by an assessment that an IHE will require students to take before enrolling in courses. It is estimated that about half of all students in higher education require developmental/remedial education courses (Horn, McCoy, Campbell, & Brock, 2009). This in turn will mean community colleges must make developmental education courses readily available to serve students who might not have college level skills. With a strong developmental education offering it is the hope of the community colleges that students will exit developmental education courses and persist completing a program of student at the community college. To make matters more challenging for community colleges, “as pressures begin to mount concerning the economic rationale for offering developmental courses at four-year institutions, the burden of remediation may fall entirely on community colleges as the sole providers of those programs” (Kolajo, 2004, p. 370). This has the potential to burden community college budgets as they face a possible influx of students who are in need of developmental education.
Lastly, students at four-year IHE’s might find themselves attending a community college. Four-year university students want to transfer to community colleges to enroll in specific courses or for summer programs (Miller, Pope, & Steinmann, 2005) in order to help advance their program of study at their “home” institution. The history and mission of community colleges is unique and will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the community they serve. More unique than the community college system is the students they serve. The demographics of community college students are just as unique as the mission of community colleges.
Demographics, the Community College Student, and First-Generation College Students
Community colleges are designed to meet the needs of students in the communities they serve. There are a total of 1,167 community colleges in the United States of America designed to meet the needs of students. Of those 1,167 community colleges, 993 are public, 143 are independent, and 31 are tribal (AACC, 2011). With a wide range of community colleges available throughout the nation the number of students choosing to attend community colleges continues to grow. As of fall 2008 it is estimated that about 12.4 million students decided to attend a community college. Of those 12. 4 million, 7.4 million attended for credit, and 5 million attended for non-credit (AACC, 2011). In addition, 60% of community college students attend part-time, and the other 40% attend full time (AACC, 2011). A lot of times their student “status” is dictated by other needs, responsibilities, and obligations the students have in their lives. The “other” responsibilities community college students must meet include work. It is estimated 21% of full-time community college students work full-time, 59% of full-time community college student’s work part-time, 40% of part-time student work full-time, and 47% of part-time students work part-time. (AACC, 2011). The community college student of today has to balance a multitude of competing needs while striving to tend to their educational responsibilities.
Community college students are often described as non- traditional, because of their age compared to traditional college students who attend a residential college full-time immediately after high school graduation (Roman, 2007). Community college students vary in age tremendously. The average age of a community college student is 28 years of age, while the median age is 23 (AACC, 2011). The largest age range of students deciding to attend community colleges is the 22-39 demographic. It is estimated that 45% of those students attending community college fall within the ages of 22-39, while 39% are 21 or younger, and lastly 15% are 40 or older (AACC, 2011).
Just as diverse as the age ranges is the ethnic composition of community college students. According to the AACC (2011), 58% of the students attending community colleges are female, while 42% of those attending are male. When it comes to ethnic composition 16% of students attending are considered Hispanic, 13% are considered Black, 6% are considered Asian/Pacific Islander, 1% are considered Native Americans, and 45% are considered Minorities. When we speak about community college students we cannot get away from the fact that a majority of the students who attend community colleges nationwide are the first in their family to do so. These students are referred to as first-generation college students. The AACC (2011) notes that 42% of community college students are the first in their family to attend college and often times these students struggle to navigate the college setting. Often times these are the students who could benefit from a college education, but are not aware of the resources and lack the information to make sound decisions.
First generation college students are often the first in their family to pursue higher education and as Billson and Terry (as cited in Bui, 2002) describe students whose parents have not attended college. “First-generation college students tend to be at a distinct disadvantage with respect to basic knowledge about postsecondary education (e.g., costs and application process), level of family income and support, educational degree expectations and plans, and academic preparation in high school” (Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, & Terenzini, 2004, ¶ 1). More research will be essential in understanding how to connect and reach community college students and first-generation college students in order to enhance their success, as well as all other students at the community college level. First-generation college students are likely to be ethnic minorities and come from low socioeconomic backgrounds (Bui, 2002) which seems to fit into the demographics the community colleges serve. In order to serve these students well community college will have to look at the current services they offer, as well as be willing to try new and innovative methods to meet community college student needs.
Community College Student Challenges
Like mentioned previously community colleges students are a very diverse student population and must balance multiple needs. Work commitments, family commitments, and other responsibilities are not unique to community college students. By trying to understand the challenges community college students face higher education professionals can develop services to meet those needs. Miller, Pope, & Steinmann (2005) conducted research in regards to community college student stressors and how they handle the stressors. During their research Miller, Pope, & Steinmann (2005) uncovered students at the community college level face stressors such as striving for academic success, balancing academic and personal life, paying for college, thinking about the future, and finding career direction. These stressors seemed to have themes related to a work/school balance, academic success, a financial theme, and a future orientation theme as students seemed concern about their future career, and their potential for future earnings as a result of their education. In their study these were the top stressors community college students noted which provided a tremendous amount of insight into the lives of community college students.
In addition, other notable college stressors included: making choices about campus involvement, being accepted on campus, finding support for attending college from family, finding support for attending college from friends, and finding transportation to campus were noted as stressors (Miller, Pope, & Steinmann, 2005). These stressors seemed to be related to on campus activity and family support (network stressors). The theme that seemed to emerge in this second set of stressors is the support network of community college students.
The first group of stressors seemed more focus on individual student needs, while the second group of stressors seemed to focus on the support network of the community college student. The way that community college students respond to stressors gives community college professionals insight in regards to how we can better help the community college student population. When dealing with stressors community college students preferred to consult with a family member, use college academic advising services, use college financial aid services, consult with their current professors, and prayer/meditation (Miller, Pope, & Steinmann, 2005). Following closely community college students also utilized college counseling services, exercise, utilized library resources, and consulted with friends (Miller, Pope, & Steinmann, 2005) in order to help cope with stressors. The stressors that students face, and how they respond give community college professionals insight in how to develop services to best serve community college students.
Student Services at the Community College-A Review
Student services are an integral part of a community college setting. A student service is a broad term that encompasses a variety of different services an IHE might offer. Typically, when one thinks of student services they think about counseling/advising, admissions, records, financial aid, and student life departments. Student services is much more than these mentioned departments and includes everything outside of the classroom that a student can access in order to contribute to their academic success, and development. Student services can include learning labs, library services, supplemental instruction, and student orientation functions as well. Student services might vary from institution to institution, but the main goal is to contribute to the overall success of students.
When it comes to student services IHE’s are hopeful the services offered will help increase the retention and persistence of students. When a student starts a course and completes it that helps towards the retention rates. In other words, they have retained the student for the whole course. The bigger picture involves persistence. Meaning, how many students start courses in any give academic term and then persist to the next academic term. This can be of extreme importance for community colleges since institutions are held accountable for retention rates by state governments, which have measures that associate funding with retention rates (Roman, 2007). At the community college level were students academic abilities vary greatly it is very important to have services available to students
A crucial aspect of working with and providing student services for community college students is providing them with as much information as possible before they begin attending. The information dissemination can happen as early the initial recruitment and outreach phase. “Admissions officer might recommend early on that students take a College Success class, proactively take advantage of tutoring and library services, as well as advising and career planning resources” (Roman, 2007, p.21). Since outreach and recruitment staff serve as the initial contact they can begin to provide potential community college students with information they will find useful in the future. This will require that outreach and recruitment staff have immense knowledge of the IHE they are employed by in order to make appropriate recommendations for potential community college students to explore.
Students attending community colleges already face challenges in taking the first steps to attend college. Once they have made the decision to attend the challenge becomes navigating the community college system. While community colleges offer student services to assist all students, not all students might be aware of what is available and what can assist them in their academic journey. The student services community colleges offer are meant to target students at all levels of their educational journey. On a college wide level, student services are accessible to all students. Students have the opportunity to socialize which each other, speak to faculty members, access to counseling/advising services, and utilize learning labs, tutoring, and library services at their convenience.
Out of all of the student services academic advisors and counselors see most students on a college wide level and have the potential to impact students by providing them with information in regards to educational, career, and other school related information that can contribute to the success of community college students. From the initial point of contact with an advisor or counselor students then have the opportunity to develop a more personal relationship, and the advisor or counselor can then serve as an academic guide and someone to “check in” with when the students have questions in regards to academic policies, procedures, and concerns.
The student and counselor/advisor relationship begins on a college wide level, but can then end up being quite a personal relationship if the counselor or advisor takes the time to build rapport and cultivate the relationship. Academic advising and counseling is a unique student service that can enhance student success and development. Academic advising and counseling can address low self-esteem, self-confidence, adjustment issues, and career related concerns that community college students might have (Wilt, 2006).
Although counselors and advisors are made available to all students they can sometimes be difficult to access. Community college students must take the time to familiarize themselves with the campus they are attending. When they become familiar with the college campus they can locate critical student services and can utilize them. In the article “A Success Model for Low-income Students” by Wilt (2006) he mentions that “counselors should meet students on the campus, in person, an engage in off campus outreach programs in the community” (p.68) this can help increase the profile of counselors and advisors at the community college level. While students can see counselors or advisors voluntarily there are some professionals who believe that academic advising has to be prescriptive and intrusive, meaning students who experience academic difficulty should be forced to see counselors or advisors in order to intervene early and help community college students get on the right path (Fowler & Boylan, 2010). This has proven to be effective and helpful for community college students who need a little more attention, but implementation might be hindered due to budgetary constraints, or lack of personnel.
Student services at the community college level are not just limited to counseling and advising services. Many best practices have advocated first year-experience programs, small learning communities, readily accessible learning labs and library services, orientation programs, and co-curricular activities. All of these recommendations encompass a wide range of potential services community colleges can offer that can increase student success and development.
First-year experience programs are meant to provide students with an introduction to the college setting while striving to build a sense of community. At the community college level students go from class to work, and the pattern repeats itself on a daily basis. Community college students rarely interact with each other. When students feel a connection to their college campus studies have shown that students tend to perform better. First-year experience programs allow students to develop relationships with other students and in some cases students take common courses together to allow them to get to know other students. This combination allows students to get involved and feel connected with their campus.
In the article “Increasing Student Success and Retention: A Multidimensional Approach” the authors Fowler and Boylan (2010) note that a multidimensional approach is needed to help students succeed. In addition to a solid counseling/advising program they also offer the idea of a first-year experience program as noted previously to help students succeed. They take the multidimensional approach a couple steps furthers in recognizing that a mandatory orientation, clear student guidelines and expectations, and a solid developmental education curriculum contribute to students overall success.
Orientations are meant to provide the new community college student with an overview of the college and provide them with useful information that can assist them with their educational experience. Orientations are usually students first introduction to the college. Orientations can assist students by making them aware of the services that are available at the college. Orientations are helpful for all students, but this could be very important for first-generation college students (Fowler & Boylan, 2010).
Clear student guidelines and expectations often come in the form of a catalog, schedule of classes, syllabus, and student handbook. While the resources previously listed are examples it is certainly not an exhaustive list of the way community colleges seek to help students understand college policies, procedures, guidelines, and expectations. The more information community college students receive the better informed they will be in regards to college expectations. The initial information dissemination can occur at the orientation level and can continue if students take a “First-Year Transition to College” or “College Success” course during their initial semester of enrollment. This course can help reinforce concepts discussed at the orientation, and then allow the instructor to cover new topics in more depth.
A developmental education curriculum will always be important in the community college setting due to their open admissions policies. Developmental course work is meant to help students reach the levels of proficiency in reading, writing, and math that are necessary for success in college. With a solid developmental education curriculum that supports the students they will hopefully persist and begin taking college level/transferable courses that will count towards their degree or certificate program. At some IHE’s when a student assesses into developmental education courses they are only allowed to take those courses. Fowler and Boylan (2010) note, “ It is often important to enroll students in at least one or two credit bearing courses in order to allow them to feel that they are making progress towards degree or certificate completion” (p.6). When the developmental curriculum is paired with solid advising and counseling services that are prescriptive and developmentally focused, the chance for student success increases greatly and enhances the community colleges retention and persistence rates.
The student services offered at the community college level are meant to assist students with their educational journey. Student services have the potential to play a positive role in a community college students experiences. A solid student services program has the potential to permeate the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. When the student services program can meet the needs of community college students on different levels the student can feel a sense connection to the college. It is not just a student services program that will contribute to the success of community college students. Faculty, staff, and administrators will all play a crucial role. Having an efficient and outstanding student services program is just one part of the equation. In order to ensure student success departments have to remember that they all rely on each other in order to enhance student success.
Conclusion
The community college setting is a very unique and diverse setting that meets the needs of a wide range of learners. This is due to the open admissions policies and the unique programs that are offered at the community college level. Community colleges are often viewed as an afterthought in the field of higher education due to the negative and often uncalled for stereotypes that portray students or those employed there as not equal to their four-year counterparts. With the rising cost of tuition, a down economy, and students looking for workforce/vocational training programs speculation is that enrollment will continue to rise at community colleges nationwide. Community colleges are in a unique situation where they can take the lead in preparing an educated workforce and helping those who start at the community college level transfer to a four-year institution to complete their four-year degree.
While more research is currently being conducted on community colleges more will be needed in the future. There will be a need to do more in depth research on community college students, the reasons they choose to attend a community college, and how they perform once they are in the community college. While community colleges can strive to offer exemplary students services, a solid academic curriculum, and solid co-curricular options we must also take a good look at the community college students themselves.
We have to understand the challenges and issues they face. It will also be important to look at personal traits and characteristics of community college students in addition to our services and programs. While community colleges and all IHE’s can strive to provide the best services for their students, we cannot force or make students utilize them. We can have the best services and programs available, but students have to choose to use them. Much like an individual who purchases a membership to a top of the line fitness club in order to get physically fit and then fails to do so by not utilizing the services at the club. The fitness club provides the equipment, trainers, and courses they need, but if the person does not utilize the resources available to them they will not become physically fit. A better understanding of community college student’s personality traits and characteristics will be needed in order to have a better understanding of the students, and to help our students get “fit.”
References
American Association of Community Colleges. American association of community
colleges. 2011 fact sheet. Washington, D.C: American Association of Community
Colleges.
Bui, K. (2006). First-generation college students at a four-year university: Background
characteristics, reasons for pursuing higher education, and first-year experiences.
College Student Journal, 36(1), 3-11.
Federal TRIO Programs-Home Page. Retrieved Nov. 28, 2011, from
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/trio/index.html
Finney, J. E., & Kelly, P. J. (2004). Affordability: Obtaining and Making Sense of
Information about How Students, Families, and States Pay for Higher Education. Change, 36(4), 54.
Fowler, P.R., & Boylan, H.R. (2010). Increasing student success and retention: A
Multidimensional approach. Journal of Developmental Education, 34(2), 2-1
Horn, C., McCoy, Z., Campbell, L., & Brock, C. (2009). Remedial Testing and
Placement in Community Colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 33(6), 510-526.
Miller, M. T., Pope, M. L., & Steinmann, T. D. (2005). Dealing with the challenges and
stressors faced by community college students: The old college try. Community
College Journal Of Research & Practice, 29(1), 63-74.
Miller, M. T., Pope, M. L., & Steinmann, T. D. (2005). A Profile of Contemporary
Community College Student Involvement, Technology Use, and Reliance on
Selected College Life Skills. College Student Journal, 39(3), 596-603.
Pascarella, E., Pierson, C., Wolniak, G., & Terenzini, P. (2004). First-generation college
students: Additional evidence on college experiences and outcomes. Journal of
Higher Education, 75(3), 249-262.
Roman, M. A. (2007). Community College Admission and Student Retention. Journal Of
College Admission, (194), 18-23.
Wilt, R. W. (2006). A Success Model for Low-Income Students. Inquiry, 11(1), 65-73.
