|
|
| Have you ever considered enrolling in a community college? These institutions were created to get students ready for course work at a four-year school. But does the community college really prepare students for further education? After significant research, I have come to doubt this particular role of the community college. Businesses and the well-being of the community have had a great impact on the curriculum and class offerings at these schools. Providing a place to earn transfer credits and introducing college life are no longer the main goals of the community college. In fact, community colleges fail to prepare most students for further education at four-year colleges and universities because of their focus on meeting the needs of local businesses and the workforce. | |
| It was in the very beginning of the twentieth century that the division
of higher education known as community colleges developed. These
institutions have grown tremendously over the past 100 years, providing
education to Americans of all economic, ethnic and social backgrounds.
The low tuition costs, fairly easy admissions, convenient location, and
variety of classes offered at a community college influence many students'
decision to choose a two-year school as opposed to a four-year institution.
Community colleges offer courses not only during the day, but also at night
and on weekends. This helps to accommodate those with a full-time
job or other commitments by providing an opportunity to take classes at
any time or day of the week.
While community colleges have these specific characteristics, quite a few similarities between two and four-year schools exist. The administrative layout of the community college is almost equivalent to that of four-year colleges. Most look for faculty members with more than a bachelor’s degree. Also, financial aid is offered for students planning to attend community college. This aid takes the form of loans, grants and work-study programs just like those of four-year institutions. One major difference though, is that only an associate’s degree can be earned at a community college. One must go to a four-year or graduate school to obtain a bachelor’s, master’s or doctorate’s degree. Now that a brief description of what a community college is has been given, it is time to discuss the role these two-year schools play in the education of adults in America today, and how they are failing to prepare students for additional education at a four-year institution. Yes, some people have attended community college before transferring to a four-year college or university and have done well academically, but most likely those students had already developed good study habits from their secondary school. The problem with this rebuttal is that the number of students successfully transferring from a two-year to a four-year institution is quite low. The Community College Journal of Research & Practice revealed a study that examined 2,386 students who attended Prince George’s Community College in the fall semester of 1990. This study showed only 15% of the students earning an award or transferring to a four-year college, 13% gaining sophomore status, and a rather large 65% were considered non-achievers (620). This study classified non-achievers as those students who were no longer enrolled in the school. Another study recorded in a more recent article by the Community College Journal of Research & Practice shows students transferring from community college, “performing less successfully academically and being placed at a disadvantage by beginning their pursuit of the bachelor’s degree at the community college” (542). In this same article, Colorado State University did a study comparing the scholastic performance of freshmen attending a four-year school to students who transferred from community college. The results showed that the freshmen performed better academically than the community college transfers. This study shows that the new freshmen at CSU were well-prepared by their high schools for course work at a four-year institution, while those students who attended community college were not as well-prepared. Thus, the focus of a community college's role is no longer in preparing students for further education, as it may have been years ago. Traditionally, community colleges were designed to imitate the first two years of a four-year college or university’s curriculum. This would allow students to transfer to a four-year college with many core course credits completed. The community college would also be a way to assist high school students in adjusting to a college environment before moving on to a four-year university. The problem with this role of community colleges is the fact that, “Almost 36 percent of community college students are at least 30 years old, compared to only 22 percent of public four-year college students” according to the Journal of Economic Perspectives (66). Thus, why should these two-year institutions be developed to assist high school students in adjusting to college life, when over a third of their students are not directly out of high school? That is why in America today, community colleges now play many other roles in the higher education of adults, straying from its traditional function. A significant number of community college students attend vocational or job training programs, which in some cases, allows them to obtain a degree within two years of schooling. A number of two-year colleges also play a large role in the remedial education of adults in the community. While the amount of remediation at four-year colleges is being limited, most public two-year institutions provide remedial course work. The percentage of freshman enrolled in remedial courses of writing, mathematics and reading according to type of institution can be seen in a table found at the National Center For Education Statistics web site. It shows that 67 percent of the students at community college (including both public and private) were enrolled in remedial courses in the fall of 1995, while only 35 percent of the students at four-year schools were taking remedial classes (Click here to see this table). Many of the community colleges now provide contract training, which is explained by the Journal of Economic Perspectives as, “classes offered to employees of a business, industry, labor union, or public agency-often at a site designated by the contracting agency” (67). If community colleges are busy providing these various types of opportunities to the community, how can they possibly be preparing students for further education at four-year colleges? |
 |
An article from the journal
Techniques: Making Education and Career Connections gives
a brief description of the focus of community colleges in America today.
“Career and technical education programs continue to be a mainstay of the
community college curriculum” (36). To many students the community
college serves as a place to learn a few quick job skills, rather than
earn a degree. Community colleges “specialize in just-in-time training
to meet the demands of a volatile marketplace” (35). So it seems
that community colleges are trying to adhere to the needs of the marketplace
and workforce, rather than get students ready for further education.
Not only is this true, but the students realize it as well, and that is
the reason many of them go to community college. They are looking
for jobs, not several credits to get them into another school. Some
statistical evidence seems to show this same thought pattern about community
colleges.
Students at community colleges are not required to choose a major or make a long-term commitment, which encourages them not to pursue further education at a university. Statistics from the Journal of Economic Perspectives show that students attending community college usually complete a low amount of college credits, and the majority of students who enroll in a two-year college complete one year or less, 35 |
| percent completing one semester or less (68). It is obvious
that many community college students are not looking to pursue further
education, and that is why these schools are not taking an initiative to
develop their curriculum to prepare students for four-year college work.
Two-year colleges are now responding to local businesses and their need
for employees instead. This, of course, is not necessarily a negative
aspect as statistics from the American Association of Community Colleges
tell us that 95% of businesses using community colleges would highly recommend
the workforce education provided by these schools. So there must
be some satisfaction with these programs developed within the community
college. Not only are businesses encouraging this type of education
in the community college, but society has its influence as well.
On January 26, 2000 Microsoft announced that they would be giving a
total of 7 million dollars to 35 different community colleges to help prepare
students for information technology jobs. The program is supposed
to stress partnership with businesses in the area to develop opportunities
for students in which they will learn the skills necessary to find a job
in the information technology business says the American Association
of Community Colleges (par 5). Microsoft is not paying community
colleges to assist students with preparation to a four-year institution,
but to get students ready to work for them.
|
| Another reason community colleges poorly prepare students for further
education at a four-year institution is because they do not receive guidance
and support from the government. Elementary schools, secondary schools,
and four-year colleges and universities have curriculum that is usually
decided by state regulations, but community colleges are free to adjust
their curriculum to their local community needs. Two-year schools
are more directly shaped according to economic development, employer needs
and skill standards of industries. In a government related article
by Stuart A. Rosenfeld, he points out that, “Community college programs,
which are less regulated by state regulations and influenced by national
tests and graduation requirements, are better able to work with industry
in curriculum development and design” (sec 3, par 9). Community colleges
are too pre-occupied with meeting the immediate needs of the local community
to prepare students for higher education at four-year institutions.
With all of these aspects in mind, it is clear to see that community colleges are too busy focusing on economic and business needs to carry out their role as a school system that is supposed to prepare students for further education. As the United States continues to grow, the demand for job skills will only continue to increase. All people will start to look at community colleges as a place to learn specific work skills, while the concept of these schools providing preparation for further education will be eliminated. No longer will two-year schools be used to help students adjust to college life, but instead, provide a way to get a job in today’s workforce. |
|
Foote, Elizabeth. “Student Persistence in Community Colleges.” Community College Journal of Research & Practice 23 (1999): 619-622. Greenberg, Richard. “Where College Paths Converge.” Techniques: Making Education & Career Connections 74 (1999): 34-38. Kane, Thomas J. and Cecilia Elena Rouse. “The Community College: Educating Students at the Margin Between College and Work.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 13 (1999): 63-85. Microsoft and AACC Announce Grant Recipients in Working Connections Class of 2002. American Association of Community Colleges. January 2000. 18 March 2000 <http://199.75.76.16/initiatives/Connections/2002%20pressrelease.htm>. National Community College Snapshot. American Association of Community Colleges. January 1997. 19 March 2000 <http://www.aacc.nche.edu/allaboutcc/snapshot.htm>. Remedial Education In Higher Education Institutes. National Center For Education Statistics. 10 July 1997. 20 March 2000 <http://nces.ed.gov./pubs99/condition99/indicator-29.html >. Rosenfeld, Stuart A. “Linking Measures of Quality and Success at Community Colleges to Individual Goals and Customer Needs.” 11 Aug. 1999. National Assessment of Vocational Education. 20 March 2000 <http://www.ed.gov/offices/OUS/eval/NAVE/rosenPart1.html>. Zeiss, Tony. “The Realities of Competition: Will Our Students Become Theirs?” Community College Journal June/July (1998): 8-13. |