(Name-mce) ListServ Defending the Community College Equity Agenda

[Anselmo Villanueva]

12-19-06

Defending the Community College Equity Agenda

Article below: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/19/bailey

To order the book: http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title_pages/9201.html

Community colleges enroll almost half of undergraduates and large
shares of the minority and low-income students in higher education
today. Yet these institutions frequently struggle to receive public
attention — and funds. A new collection of essays — Defending the
Community College Equity Agenda — has just been published by Johns
Hopkins University Press. The collection was edited by Thomas Bailey,
director of the Community College Research Center, at Teachers
College, Columbia University, and Vanessa Smith Morest, assistant
director of the center. Bailey responded to questions about the themes
of the book.

Q: How would you define "the equity agenda?"

A: As we define it in our book, the "equity agenda" in higher
education is made up of three components: equity in college
preparation, access to college, and success in satisfying college
goals. All institutions — whether two-year or four-year, private or
public — face challenges in achieving the equity agenda. But community
colleges are particularly important, because they play such a large
role in educating students who are low income, minorities, or
academically unprepared for the rigors of college. The "open-door"
mission of community colleges (they accept many applicants who are not
academically prepared to tackle college-level coursework) has leveled
the playing field for countless students by giving them a fair shot at
higher education no matter where they attended high school or whether
or not they come from families with educational and financial
resources that facilitate access to college and success once there.
Our book examines how well the community colleges are fulfilling their
"open door" mission and what can be done to help them succeed when
economic, political, and social challenges — such as limited funding
and soaring enrollments — have made doing so increasingly difficult.

Q: Much of the public debate about minority students focuses on
admission to a few elite colleges — what is the community college role
in promoting the education of minority students?

A: Minority, especially Hispanic, low-income, first generation, and
immigrant students are all concentrated in community colleges. In
2005, there were about 7,000 black and Hispanic students enrolled at
Bronx Community College alone, while there were fewer than 7,500
matriculated in all of the Ivy League. Furthermore, the typical BCC
students came from lower income families than minority students at
Harvard and Columbia. At a time when other institutions, such as the
elite colleges you mention, are working to diversify their student
bodies, community colleges are launching millions of minority students
on their first steps of a college education and providing a second
chance at college for minority and immigrant adults seeking to better
their lives.

This isn't to say, however, that they always succeed in fulfilling
that goal. Research reported in this book has shown that black,
Hispanic and low-income community college students are less likely to
complete degrees or transfer to four-year colleges than their
upper-income and white counterparts. Like many who attend community
colleges, minority students often begin with the goal of earning a
college degree, but they frequently leave college without achieving
that goal. Eight years after initial enrollment, only 20 percent of
black community college students complete a degree or certificate at
any institution.

Community colleges can be proud of their efforts to provide access to
college for many students, but more progress needs to be made in
improving outcomes for students once they get to college. This will be
no easy feat. Most colleges are funded and judged on the basis of
enrollments rather than on the educational and employment success of
their students. A seismic shift is needed to change the focus from
enrollment — as it has traditionally been — to student achievement.

Q: How are changes in state priorities and funding patterns affecting
community colleges?

A: Cuts in funding to community colleges pose a severe threat to the
equity mission of these institutions. It is ironic that community
colleges enroll the hardest to serve students — students attending
part time and those who are low-income and often academically
under-prepared — but receive less funding per student than four-year
institutions.

Moreover, in the last decade or so, we have seen the budgets for
community colleges in many states stagnate or shrink. This has been
caused by a number of factors, most notably the recession of the early
2000s, when state higher education budgets were hit hard. The impact
on community colleges was greatest, however, because they are more
dependent on state revenues than four-year public colleges. Though
some community colleges have benefited in the last couple of years as
their state economies have grown stronger, a debate over the public's
role in offering higher education has also taken place. This has led
to a shift in funding to medical care, pensions, prisons, and other
services to the detriment of community colleges. Despite the cyclical
ups and downs of funding, the long-term trend has been a shrinking
share of state funding going to community colleges.

This has caused an increase in tuition rates for students, the effect
of which has been exacerbated by a shift away from needs-based
financial aid. But the shrinking revenue per student has also made it
difficult for colleges to maintain the teaching and services necessary
for their growing and increasingly diverse student bodies. Simply put,
for too long community colleges have been trying to do too much with
too little. While colleges can always do more with the resources they
have, and our book contains many recommendations to help them do that,
these institutions do need more resources so that they can help
disadvantaged students get the help they need to succeed in college.
We're hoping this is something that our newly-elected officials
nationwide will take on as part of their legislative agendas in the
new year.

Q: What is the impact of for-profit higher education on community
colleges generally and specifically their role serving disadvantaged
students?

A: Our book looked at the impact of the growth of for-profit higher
education on community colleges. For-profit institutions account for a
very small share of the two-year sector, although the number of
associates degrees and certificates conferred by for-profit colleges
is growing, especially in occupational fields. Based on current
systems for funding and regulating colleges, there is little evidence
that for-profit institutions are threatening the enrollments of
community colleges.

The for-profits do tend to enroll a slightly higher percentage of
minority students than do public community colleges. And while there
is tremendous variability in the quality of the for-profits, there are
higher quality institutions among them. Some of these colleges have
coordinated and well-organized student services and strong ties to
local businesses. These policies make sense for both the for-profits
and public community colleges.

Q: Are there states or college districts you would point to as models
for successfully defending the equity priorities in these challenging
economic times?

A: No single college has found the magic formula for achieving the
equity agenda, but one broad conclusion that emerged clearly from our
research was that if colleges are going to shift from a focus on
enrollments to one on student success, then colleges must have a
better sense of where and why students have trouble, and what policies
and practices are most effective. In most cases, colleges do not have
the institutional research capacity to allow them to use their own
data to develop a full understanding of what happens to their
students. As colleges work to develop this capacity, state community
college offices can provide tremendous help by maintaining and using
comprehensive student record databases.

Of the states in our study, Florida and Washington are particularly
committed to the use of statewide data to track the progress of
students. Florida is a national leader in its ability to track
students from high school into college and throughout the public
higher education system. The state office provides extensive feedback
to the individual colleges. Washington State has also done important
research tracking students into the labor market. Both states are well
above average on measures of student completion.

— Scott Jaschik