Some Students Ask ‘What Is the Point’ of Community College

Some Students Ask ‘What Is the Point’ of Community College

Recent research suggests that there has been a big drop in enrollment² in community colleges.

Two-year community colleges fill the gap between high schools and four-year colleges.

Some students take community college classes to get job training. Others go to community colleges to take lower-cost classes before moving to a four-year university. Community colleges can cost thousands of dollars less than four-year schools.

But some students say credits for classes at community colleges do not always transfer to four-year colleges, and some employers say workers from community colleges are not always ready for jobs. At the same time, there are many jobs for people without a college education, which makes people believe they do not need college.

Since 2010, the number of students at U.S. community colleges has dropped by 37 percent, or about 2.6 million students. Those numbers come from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, a non-profit group.

That is a surprise to many people because, during the same period, the cost of higher education in the U.S. went up sharply. Many private four-year colleges can cost over $40,000 per year. Community colleges cost, on average, less than $4,000 per year. Some are even free of cost.

Getting lost

Students say they are dropping out of community colleges because they lack support.

Enrique Camara of Washington state was a good student in high school. He wanted to take audio engineering classes. But when he got to Shoreline Community College, he said it felt like he was in "a weird³ maze⁴." He felt lost.

He said he had trouble getting help with things like choosing the correct classes and getting financial aid.

Camara said he had to "run from office to office" to find out what to do. After two school terms, Camara left Shoreline and he now works at a restaurant and plays music in two bands.

Camara is not the only student who had problems.

Megan Parish is 26. She lives in the southern state of Arkansas. She has been taking community college classes since 2016. She said she often has trouble getting information from administrators⁵ and advisers⁶. Sometimes it took 30 days to get an answer from a person in the financial aid office.

Twenty-year-old Oryanan Lewis is in a program for medical assistants at Chattahoochee Valley Community College in Alabama. She has had problems finishing her schoolwork because of a chronic⁷ sickness.

Because she missed many classes, she was put on academic probation⁸. That meant she was in danger of failing school.

She said she only got attention from people who worked at the college when they realized she might leave.

I feel like they should talk to their students more," Lewis said. "Because a person can have a whole lot going on." That means they might have problems others do not know about.

A ‘reckoning'

Supporters of community colleges say they are supposed to help the students who need the most support. But there is not enough money to help everyone.

In 2020, the Center for American Progress, a non-profit group, said community colleges get $8,800 less government money per student than four-year colleges. But experts like Joseph Fuller of Harvard Business School say the lack of money is only an excuse made by schools that are poorly run.

Davis Jenkins is a researcher at the Community College Research Center, part of Teachers College at Columbia University in New York. He calls the current situation a "reckoning."

He said the drop in students attending community colleges would look even worse if it were not for high school students. Some high school students take part in programs that enroll¹ them in community college classes.

Many students at community colleges start school aiming to move on to a four-year college. But research suggests the number of students able to do that is decreasing.

The two-year schools have the worst completion rates of any kind of university or college. About half the students leave school within the first year. Only about 40 percent finish their two-year school term within six years.

Many of the students who attend community colleges are minorities. Half of all Hispanic students and 40 percent of all Black students in higher education are at community colleges. If they are having trouble finishing a two-year program, that means they are not moving on to four-year colleges or finishing the job training programs.

Observers say this is a problem for the U.S. economy. For years, community colleges have trained people to work as nurses, assistants to dentists, auto⁹ repair technicians, machine operators and many other jobs. If students do not complete two-year programs to become qualified¹⁰ for jobs, businesses will have trouble finding skilled workers.

‘It's not impossible'

A recent study by the Harvard Business School showed not all employers are happy with community college graduates. Only 62 percent of employers thought community college graduates were ready to work.

In addition, all colleges are having trouble keeping young people in recent years. That is because there are many jobs available right now that pay well and do not require a college education. This hurts community colleges more than four-year colleges.

In Michigan, the number of students going to community colleges dropped three times faster than those going to four-year colleges. That information comes from the state's Center for Educational Performance and Information. It covers the period from 2018 to 2021.

Even with all the problems, some community colleges do very well. Joseph Fuller, the professor at Harvard Business School, studies management.

He said concerns about community colleges lacking enough money are "legitimate¹¹."

"But a number of community colleges do extraordinarily¹² well," Fuller said. "So, it's not impossible."

Words in This Story

enrollment –n. the process by which students are accepted and attend school

gap –n. a space that exists between two things

transfer –v. to move something from one place to another

weird –adj. strange

maze –n. a system of connected passages that is meant to be hard to understand and in which people can easily get lost

chronic –adj. something without end; a condition that goes on for a long time

reckoning –n. a time when someone is judged for their past actions

legitimate –adj. fair or reasonable

extraordinarily –adv. at a very high level

1 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

2 enrollment   

n.注册或登记的人数；登记

参考例句：

• You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
• I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。

3 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

4 maze   

n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑

参考例句：

• He found his way through the complex maze of corridors.他穿过了迷宮一样的走廊。
• She was lost in the maze for several hours.一连几小时，她的头脑处于一片糊涂状态。

5 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

6 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

7 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

8 probation   

n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)

参考例句：

• The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。
• His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。

9 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。

10 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

11 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

12 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。