A Muddled Present—-—-Reflections on “Community College Students Face a Very Long Road to Graduate”, New York Times (Bellafante, 2014)
Discussions about the dismal completion rates in universities and colleges have not been novel. More research have noted that the mere focus on the stable socioeconomic stratification as well as the decreasing diversity in four-year higher education institutions missed a big part of the picture. With 7.7 million students enrolled, community colleges host 45 percent of all undergraduates in the United States (Bellafante, 2014). The huge student body also witnesses a high percentage of immigrant and low-income students. Widely spread reports on the growing BA transfer rate in some colleges, such as La Guardia Community College, seem encouraging. However, little is known about how long those students spent in amassing the required credits, and how much they have paid for each additional year in the community college. For students who did not get a BA transfer in La Guardia Community College, only about 25 percent of students can achieve an Associate Degree within 6 years. The sharp contrast between the college-going enthusiasm and the gloomy education outcomes incites heated discussions. A great number of studies discover that family obligations, insufficient study time, the lack of financial aid, and the inadequate education counseling attribute to low-income students’ college disillusion (Goldrick-Rab & Sorensen, 2010; Rosenbaum,2010; Oreopoulos & Petronjevic, 2013). Bellafante’s observations on an art student education trajectory seem to indicate some other possible reasons that contribute to students’ low performance.
Improving Instruction Coherence
In La Guardia Community College, only 39 percent of the class are taught by the full-time faculty. It is not unusual that many schools now hire more adjunct instructors rather than full-time faculty to reduce the cost. Though no research has proved a clear decline in education quality with such a trend, cautions come with the reality that the coherence in teaching and students’ persistence may be impaired. Unlike the full-time faculty, adjuncts have less time to spend with students. And for students whose fields are not directly tied to a specific profession, adjunct instructors, even those with rich professional experience, may not be as effective as full-time teachers (Bettinger, Long & Boatman, 2013). To improve the coherence in instruction, full-time faculty, especially those in humanities and social science fields, may teach more classes on campus. Moreover, the school could do a better job improving its math test system. For those math challenged students, the coherence in the instruction is important. Perhaps, it would be helpful if the long-term follow-up of a student’s math performance is conducted by the same instructor. In addition, after-school one-on-one instructions may be another effective strategy. Individual instruction could be scheduled online or requested upon students’ needs.
Strengthening Structural Support
The significance of the individual counseling in students’ academic progress and degree completion is receiving increasing attention. As the structural support, counseling which addresses challenges in students’ lives and concerns in the academics, should be further strengthened. Particularly, students’ mental and physical health conditions need to become an important part of the counseling. Under great pressure from work, family and the school, low-income students are more likely to suffer psychological and physical discomfort. It may be helpful if free regular physical checks, workshops on stress management, and easier accesses to counseling and mental health services are provided. For community colleges, a stronger safety net to help students conquer obstacles at the present is more practical than an elusive promise of a successful future.
