Making Community College Work for All
When my mom arrived in the United States from India, she knew right away that this was a land of opportunity — if you had the right education. Although she was smart and ambitious, she lacked the money, the time, or the English language skills to attend a four-year institution. So she turned to her local community college. The experience transformed her life, as it has transformed the lives of thousands of immigrant families.
Today, the First Lady of the United States is not only a community college lecturer, but one whose EdD doctoral thesis made recommendations for improving the institution itself. Dr. Jill Biden will be a powerful voice for community college at the highest levels of power; and this kind of attention is more than welcome, because community colleges are the unsung heroes of American higher education. Their students represent almost half of undergraduates — 44 percent, according to analysis by the Community College Research Center at Columbia. They disproportionately serve underrepresented communities — not just immigrants but minorities, working adults, and those seeking remedial education.
The Biden administration, like others before it, has plans to make community college more affordable. That is laudable; but another big problem community colleges face — as Jill Biden’s dissertation recognized — is student retention. Their overall graduation rate, again according to the Community College Research Center, is just 40 percent; and that figure drops drastically with the student’s socioeconomic background. For students from the poorest families, the figure is only 14 percent — less than one in seven. Unfortunately, COVID-19 is likely to have exacerbated these figures, with one in five community college students saying they planned to delay their studies as a result of the pandemic, according to a survey by Gallup and Strada.
Of course, it would be great if everybody who started community college finished, and there are steps colleges are taking to increase their graduation rate. But life is complicated, especially for students from low-income communities. Their jobs may be unpredictable, and they may be required to hold down several just to make ends meet. They may have childcare or eldercare responsibilities that naturally take priority. With the best will in the world, many who enroll will not graduate.
Alongside making community college more affordable, we need to think about how to make that first semester or first year really count. Here are a few ideas that could be encouraged.
(1) Partner with local employers to determine which competencies they consider most valuable in the workplace. Make those the focus of the first two semesters across programs. This is the spirit that animates the Community College Growth Engine Fund.
(2) Use student survey data to figure out which faculty they find most inspiring. Have them teach the introductory classes.
(3) Offer English language skills early on in the curriculum, to help immigrants like my mom get up to speed.
(4) Award an industry-recognized certificate or other tangible qualification to those who complete a semester. That is an achievement in itself, especially for someone from a low-income background, and it merits recognition.
(5) Stop the “leaky credit funnel.” Too many commuity college credits are not recognized by four-year institutions. This is outrageous. Do what Australia and many European countries do: motivate progression to a four-year university degree by ensuring all credits can be transfered.
Community college has the potential to lift so many across America into the middle class. We have an opportunity over the next few years to rethink and improve all aspects of community college — not just affordability but also engagement and employability among many other areas. Let’s take that opportunity to make community college truly work for all.
