Why Community Colleges Struggle to Increase College Completion Rates.

Today's post comes from The College Puzzle Blog.

"America’s 1,200 community colleges enroll nearly half of credit-earning undergraduates, and first time students. However, scholarly attention to this growing postsecondary sector is dwarfed by research and publications concerning 4-year institutions. Furthermore, community colleges serve a disproportionate share of low income students including 79% of California’s Latino students. And, public four-year institutions grew by 3.5% from 1990 to 2000, but public two-year enrollments grew by 14%.

Defending the Community College Equity Agenda (Thomas Bailey and Vanessa Smith Morest (eds.) Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins, 2006) addresses several key threats to the community college equity agenda. The co-authors have long and deep backgrounds through their leadership roles in the Community College Research Center at Teachers College." To read the rest of this interesting article click here.

Community colleges enroll almost anyone who wants to come regardless of academic preparation. Community college budgets are fiscally constrained, and their resources often lag enrollment growth. Moreover, need based student financial aid has not kept up with the changing student bodies. Many students, however, do succeed in community colleges despite long odds.