However, while scrolling through the pages, I came upon an article contained on Dr. Michael W. Kirst's Blog about community colleges. He is Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration at Stanford University since 1969, among other very impressive achievements. He received his political economy and government doctorate from Harvard. The article is entitled:
"Why Community Colleges Struggle to Increase College Completion Rates"
A few key facts from his article:* The nation's 1,200+ community colleges enroll nearly half (approx 45%) of all undergraduates each year
* Public four-year institutions grew by 3.5% from 1990 to 2000, but public two-year enrollments grew by 14%.
He also puts his citations from this book:
Defending the Community College Equity Agenda (Thomas Bailey and Vanessa Smith Morest (eds.) Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins, 2006)
He goes on to cite from the aforementioned book:
It is fair to say that community colleges have made a crucial contribution to opening college access, but their role in providing overall equity in higher education outcomes is less clear. The majority of students who start community college do not earn a degree or certificate (p. 247).
The final chapter is a powerful indictment of many components of community colleges including their inadequate : college completion rates, developmental education operations, information systems, transfer of credits to four-year institutions, advising, and quality of online instruction.
Another article from his blog is entitled
"Ready for College? Community College Data Suggests Otherwise"
The Basic Facts* Low community college completion rates are a major reason that six nations passed the U.S. in higher education degrees for ages 25-34 in the last decade.
* A large majority of community college students want a four year degree, but only 39% transfer to a four year institution and an abysmally low rate of 23% ultimately obtain a four year degree.
He goes on to ask the reader:
* Why do students with high education aspirations fail to realize their goals of college success and college completion in community colleges? There are several reasons, but inadequate academic preparation and lack of money are crucial.
And Here is Our Answer
* But a nationwide study by Stanford University revealed that secondary students received signals that (1) there were very low academic standards at community colleges, and (2) their minimum high school graduation requirements were enough to succeed.
My Take on This: I admire Dr. Kirst's work. You can tell that he put a lot of effort into these two articles and their research credibility shines. However, the reason I point out these less-than optimal statistics is because I want you to know that you do not have to be a statistic that doesn't graduate with some type of certificate or degree.
Everyone has more will-power than they can ever imagine. No kidding. Now that I have kind of shell-shocked you, I hope you can realize the reason why I created this blog. As a community college student myself, I know what we are up against. As I said in my first post, maybe you are not happy about going to community college (I sure wasn't...at first). But, like me, you CAN change that outlook and inject some ambition into your life by becoming that "stand-out student" that you always dreamed of becoming
In the meantime, I will probably be taking an extended-break from blogging. It's not a sure-thing, but I know that I will eventually write back!
Articles can be found at: www.thecollegepuzzle.blogspot.com
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