Attention humans, Community Colleges are now the answer to Merica’s problem! This has always been a major topic/question of mine. I am glad to be taking a class on this topic next semester. After our class we had on this topic, it was evident that many of us had grew up with different perceptions of community colleges. Growing up in Texas and a large city, the larger universities took precedence and you were forced to wear their t-shirt even though no one in your family had ever attended the university. They were not looked in favor with the Texas system, even though they were widely accepting and accessible. Once in the system, you were stuck in the system for large amounts of time.
The readings bring up diversity and the high demand for the community colleges. They established which target audience they need to keep the systems running. They are heavily populated with minority students, and non traditional students. Populations as such can pose a challenge, but reap such rewards for success. When breaking up into groups to discuss more of the topics with promotional videos, I was impressed to learn the positives students are being offered through community colleges. I found most of them were actually great students who were passionate on a certain area. In addition, they were able to find internships/employment opportunities directly involved with their community colleges.
I was impressed to see the push for community colleges which came directly from President Obama himself. I had no idea how much community colleges were able to help boost the economy back into action after the recent historical depression. I was also shocked to see the high demand for community colleges. It was great to see the impact community colleges were leaving on many of the students.
The challenges actually surprised me when looking at community colleges. You had challenges which were mainly focused on classroom environments. The students came from such a diverse background, there is no best way to gauge how they each will learn collectively. In addition to that, you had to face the low budgets and pay to most of the colleges. The you have some facilities/colleges which are well funded and designed better than most universities. Most community colleges, are closely linked to large institutions, and recently there has been a huge push for alumni of community colleges to help boost their programs.
I feel community colleges are on a rise, and are here to stay. I wish they had a better feel than for-profit institutions. I feel community colleges can offer much more than people perceive them to provide. I know that was how I thought they operated, and seeing them offer basically nothing. I have much interest in learning more about the process and seeing how they impact retention and graduation rates for four-year institutions.
Thanks,
-dani
Related articles
- The Benefits of Beginning at a Community College (iowacollegestudentaidcommission.wordpress.com)
- Community Colleges Try Fancy Fundraising (nation.time.com)
- Community college tution goes up 2.8% (radioiowa.com)
- Granting opportunity (toledoblade.com)
Daniel Ramirez-Escobedo 