State community college policies are adept at getting people in community colleges, but they are not good at getting them out.
That is the judgment of Colleen Moore, research specialist for the Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy. Moore, in collaboration with fellow researcher Nancy Shulock, compiled a report concerning obstacles to student success and degree completion titled “Rules of the Game: How State Policy Creates Barriers to Degree Completion and Impedes Student Success in the California Community Colleges.” Moore and Shulock operate from California State University, Sacramento. This report was submitted to all community college officials.
According to current statistics provided by the California State University, Sacramento-based research experts, less than one-fourth of community college students wend through the nefarious community college obstacle course.
Policymakers for the state community colleges are assuming that the current focus on wide access into the community college system is more than enough, Moore said. However, getting students in the system is not sufficient, she said. Policies to get students successfully through the system and not just merely into the system need to be discussed, she said. Hopefully this report will “initiate discussion,” Moore said.
“We’re not blaming colleges,” Moore said. “But current policies are not allowing colleges to offer support to students.”
Moore hopes that officials who review this report will be “open to change.” Moore believes that current policies do not allow colleges to gain enough money for services to students, nor do current policies lend colleges enough spending power or proper direction in channeling funds.
Funds could be allocated toward greater counseling services to lower-income and first-generation college attendees, Moore said. Essentially, policies that would “free up” colleges to expand their student services should be drafted, Moore said.
The “Rules of the Game’ report essentially says that the low rate of educational attainment by community college students poses a dire threat to California’s future financial health; a dearth of educated wage-earners will not be able to serve an information-craving population and its economy.
According to the report, which was issued Feb. 2007, forty percent of California’s community college students are not going for a degree; these students are aiming to improve basic academic skills or job skills. Many community college students are simply taking a class for “personal enrichment” purposes.
Forty-two percent of these non-degree pursuing students fall under the personal enrichment category. Forty-nine percent of these non-degree college students are attempting to ameliorate job skills. Nine percent of these students have chosen to upgrade their basic academic skills.
Lisa Fitzgerald, institutional research analyst for Bakersfield College’s Office of Instruction/Research, differs with the report.
“There has been a gradual trend up since 1996 towards certification and degree attainment,” Fitzgerald said. “I look at the data.”
However, Fitzgerald conceded that there are “multitudes of students with different goals. Students will often take a course or two to advance in a career.”
Moore and Shulock’s “Rules” report states that there are many obstacles in the way of college student completion. For example, “Rules” says that the community college finance system fails to provide motivation for student academic attainment. The report also cites the regulation of community college funds as another stumbling block in student academic attainment; this type of regulation of the funds curtails spending on needful “student support.”
Limited hiring by California community college districts has also proved to be injurious to student advancement, the report states. In a telephone interview Moore stated that more counselors specially trained to assist low-income and first-generation college students is mandatory.
The report also lists tuition and financial aid policies, which tend to abandon students to meager avenues of support. The report also condemns a dearth in counseling direction for students, which the report claims to be an accepted standard.
The report admonishes community college officials that there should be five changes in the state community college policy. Reshaping current finance policies by infusing viable motives for insuring student academic attainment is at the top of the list. The California community college system should not be commended for merely widening its accessibility.
The report also suggests that colleges should be allowed greater freedom in channeling funds that promote student degree attainment, not to mention greater freedom in hiring specially trained faculty. Tuition and financial aid policies need to be ameliorated in the interest of promoting more full-time student attendance; the report states that students who enrolled full-time from the onset of their community college experience and consistently re-enrolled full-time were much more likely to attain a degree.
The report also suggests that policies should be drawn with more explicit measurements for college preparedness.
The “Rules” report drew an issued written response from the presiding head of the state community college system, Chancellor Drummond. Drummond wrote in his response that “Rules” does not state actual student accomplishment statistics, nor does “Rules” fully outline “what works and what doesn’t” in regard to assisting student degree completion. Drummond mentions that “Rules” states that students who attend only part-time are not as likely to finish the race for degree attainment. However, Drummond also wrote that “Rules” neglects to acknowledge why some students attend only part time. Drummond further contended that community colleges’ widened accessibility is a contributing factor in high community college student academic achievement. Drummond also wrote that 51% of the community college student population who pursued a degree and/or transfer to a four-year college attained the goals by approximately 6 years after beginning community college. Drummond further stressed that over 55% of CSU graduates and over 28% of all UC graduates were former community college students.