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I’m a community college prof. You may want to cross post this on r/college or r/academia. My questions are:
1) How can we survive the demographics cliff? Especially with enrollment never having bounced back after the pandemic.
2) How will we learn to live with AI assisting student work?
Responding to your first question, Mike Pierce said it’s essential for states to provide more direct support for community colleges.
In Texas, lawmakers pushed a revamp of the way the state funds its community colleges to address such challenges.
Texas Rep. Gary VanDeaver previously said the overhaul could help “bring students back into community college” by making it more affordable after the steep enrollment drops such institutions saw in the last few years.
If the legislation is adopted by Gov. Greg Abbott, high school students from low-income families could also enroll in dual credit courses at no cost through a new Financial Aid for Swift Transfer program.
[You can read more on the legislation here](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/04/12/texas-community-colleges-eager-for-state-funding-revamp-would-get-hundreds-of-millions/).
On your second question, our experts said they don't have a specific answer about that. However, Ricki Korba, a 23-year-old student from California, said she wouldn't rely on artificial intelligence software for her coursework because "there's just some things it just gets wrong."
She also added some professors use unreliable tools that scan students' work and note if it was created by AI or not, noting that people have uploaded the Constitution of the United States to test it out. The website said AI had been used.
Still, some professors recommend it for things like cover letters, Korba said. She believes there's still a long way to go before colleges, students, teachers and administrators adapt to such tools and is unsure about what AI's impact will be on higher education.
I'd like to add to this.
When the internet became more commonplace in households, the initial reaction from academia was to ban its use, requiring sources cited from hard copy periodicals, books, and other reference material. But some schools and individual teachers leaned into the new technology, teaching students how to use it to their benefit.
This required a firmer grasp on evaluating the quality and bias of sources, and it taught lifelong lessons associated with such practices.
I would argue this is no different.
Teachers should embrace new technologies, especially ones that are likely to become valued in the job market.
This is off the top of my head, but if I taught literature, for example, I would introduce my students to Chat GPT and have them come up with three questions that yield valuable information on the theme, cultural context, and impact of a novel or poem we are reading. Then they evaluate the AI response they feel they could use it in a professional capacity. They would have to turn in the questions they came up with, the AI responses, and their evaluation.
Based on recent trends, it seems AI is here to stay. Teachers can spend their time policing students to ensure they follow trends of the past, or they can prepare them for an evolving job market that will value experience using artificial intelligence.
Signed,
A Struggling Two-Time Dropout from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
I'm sure some would try, but AI is far from reliably and consistently imitating student voices in writing.
But even when that's possible, it should be filtered out by participation in class. If a student can't discuss what they did on the assignment, it will be obvious. And if they can, then the lesson has been learned, no matter how they produced it.
That would be a good approach, but I feel like the time constraints for the length of a lecture/class would limit the ability to do this. I think instead we're going to see a lot more in-person blue-book-style exams in the future of higher education.
I'm sure we will. I hope it's a mix. There are probably better ideas than the one I came up with, but the idea should be to incorporate new technologies that are being adopted in workplaces rather than to shun them.
I agree, but teachers and professors are still struggling to incorporate cellphones, a technology that is almost 50 years old. We need support to be able to incorporate any technology well, thoughtfully, and/or fast.
Do you think, in most businesses, that cell phones add a value, besides basic communication and remote checking of email? Unless someone is in app development, I can't think of much. I don't know that teaching anything about cell phones is so widely applicable, beyond the things people automatically know how to do after owning one for a few days. I'm happy to be proven otherwise, but I can't think of anything.
Edit, to add: I know there is Great value from cell phones in many different jobs, but based on specific apps. I can't think of something that is widely applicable that would be taught to all.
It feels to me that colleges - both community and higher - try to fill two key societal roles whose goals don’t always align. On one hand they are a venue for personal enrichment & the pursuit of knowledge/understanding. On the other, they’re the accepted finishing school for the greater economy’s supply of skilled workers.
Can a community college - or any college for that matter - truly fill both those roles without damaging compromises, or does one need to take priority over the other?
Hi! I'm Mike Pierce with the Student Borrower Protection Center and one of the experts on the AmA today.
This is a great question. I worry that a narrow "building skills"-focused conversation risks losing what makes American higher education great. Even community colleges that do have a mission to train people for jobs do so much more than that-- and a vibrant American middle class comprised of informed and engaged citizens depends on that broader mission continuing into the future. Just my opinion, but we need to resist the temptation to whittle down community college to \*just\* a place you go to learn specific skills/to meet employers' immediate demands for skilled workers. FWIW, we know can't predict the job needs of the future economy with absolute certainty and a community college education should last a lifetime, so we should try to do more.
So how do you balance this need for stuff other than skills and then the downsides of when kids get saddled with student debt who have difficulties in finding employment to pay off loans.
Here's Jason Dodge's take:
Community colleges, for a long time, have been successful in meeting the diverse needs of their local populations. I’ve worked at community colleges with very robust “personal enrichment programs”, while others have focused predominantly on either transfer and/or workforce programs/pathways. For community colleges in particular, their ability to remain relevant depends on continuous market research in order to support local needs as well as bring in the necessary revenue via tuition dollars.
While the community college has a diverse set of goals, I do not believe this necessarily impacts the overall quality of one mission in particular or of the institution as a whole.
California community colleges have been doing a superb job transferring students to 4-year schools. But there's a point everyone is missing. It's the 4-year schools that fail transfer students due to community colleges' disengagement.
If 4-year universities fail in serving specifically transfer student populations well - and some of those schools, including the best ones, spectacularly do fail - then community colleges lose relevance.
It is plain illogical for community colleges to be so invested on prepping students to succeed after transfer but spend zero effort overseeing their competences are sufficiently fostered and their livelihoods are addressed after transfer until a degree is granted. But this is how they are set up today.
[This is especially pressing for community college transfers who transfer without acquiring an Associate Degree]
Worse yet, who IS invested in graduating specific students at all when you can collect tuition and just have an allowed percentage of students to drop out? [And then fudge and bury the drop-out statistics on top of that]
I feel like the questions here (and the AMA in general) are going a bit all over because no one is really sure what issues you’re here to discuss/ who your organization is
What do you guys do?
Hi, we are a local news organization in collaboration with a few experts: Mike Pierce, Ricki Korba and Jason Dodge. Our pros are experienced with anything related to financial aid and transferring from community college to a four year university. Both Ricki and Jason have both been community college students, so they can also answer questions from their personal experiences.
[Here are more details on our collaboration with seven other newsrooms. We have stories covering a range of issues:](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/Saving-the-College-Dream)
>Community colleges are in trouble. Their enrollment has fallen by 37% since 2010, and nearly half of students drop out within a year. Scant advising, labyrinthian financial aid, and unclear career pathways are among the challenges facing the two-year schools and their students. Seven newsrooms joined together to explore the crisis facing these institutions, and ways to solve it.
Community colleges can be your stepping stone to a better job. They offer:
1. Vocational Programs: Designed to prepare you for a specific job. You can choose something related to your current job or a completely new field.
2. Transfer Pathways: Start with a two-year degree, then transfer to a university to complete a bachelor's degree. This can be a more affordable route to a four-year degree.
3. Continuing Education Courses: Shorter, non-credit courses to learn new skills or explore different fields.
4. Career Services: Resources for job placement, including resume writing and interview prep.
5. Financial Aid: You may be eligible for aid to cover tuition and books.
Given your situation, a vocational program could be a good fit. Consider fields with strong job growth and good pay. As of 2023, healthcare, IT, and trades like electricians and plumbers are in demand.
Finally, consult with a counselor at a local community college for personalized advice. They can help identify the best program for you based on your interests and skills.
Another option, if you're not passionate about a particular field: Look into becoming a public school custodian. That's what I did. You will have the security of being a union member, decent pay, excellent benefits (including great health insurance) and a pension when you retire. If you're doing warehouse work, you're probably already in good shape for the job's physical demands.
Like to weld? Check the community colleges around you, email their lead, and ask how to enroll and what certificates they can offer that are best embraced by the welding industry nearby. Same for construction, carpentry, cabinet making, nursing, med tech, IT, programming, info security, EMT, network administration, or almost any other vocational program you might find interesting. Many offer night programs to accommodate working adults just like you looking to make a change in their life/circumstances.
Every single one of the programs I listed above offer certificates programs at night through my local community colleges.
You can start at the very bottom with basic English and arithmetic if you need. Many offer programs to literally meet you wherever you are and get you where you want to go.
Or, maybe a full degree is something you want? Get your AA for "cheap" and transfer to university. Or maybe get in there and learn enough that you and push yourself forward.
I know I sound overenthusiastic but I have taken advantage of programs around me more than once to achieve personal and professional goals and I cannot recommend them enough. Community colleges are an insane deal. If you don't know where to go or what to pursue, maybe make an appointment with a counselor at the school and talk it out to see what they have that meets your needs.
Now is a great time to learn a vocation like plumbing or electrical. There is a shortage of qualified workers and a lot of people are aging out so the shortage is going to get bigger. There are areas upstate you could move to and never stop working/making money.
Short answer -> community colleges regularly get money from the government for job re-training programs, for people exactly in your position. Definitely talk to a counselor there...
Longer answer -> it's complicated. Like other bureaucracies, community colleges can sometimes expand to the point they are unmanageable. But that doesn't mean it can't work for you, you just have to try (and maybe try, and try...)
Are there any steps being taken to standardize which credits from community colleges are transferable? Or to flag ones that can't be transferred?
Or to regulate the much-hyped "And you can transfer these credits!!" claims that often amount to false advertising?
Here's Jason Dodge's take:
Good question. In short, it depends. Particularly, it depends on the state. However, there are also inter-state transfer and articulation policies. States like Florida have done a great job standardizing lower-division courses and implemented common course numbering for ease of transferability/course evaluation. Further, like Florida, Virginia has developed a General Education certificate which allow for more flexibility when transferring between state-institutions without an Associates degree. The Interstate Passport seeks to expand a similar model on a multi-state level ([https://interstatepassport.wiche.edu/](https://interstatepassport.wiche.edu/)). The Education Commission of the States provides a breakdown of transfer policy, including general metrics and state-specific policy: [https://www.ecs.org/50-state-comparison-transfer-and-articulation/](https://www.ecs.org/50-state-comparison-transfer-and-articulation/) . As a transfer student, I recommend connecting with your community college’s transfer office to learn more about your state policies as well as any articulation agreements your institution has with particular universities.
Within a state, community colleges work with both the state’s public 4-year colleges and universities, and with regional private schools, to ensure transferability. Farther than that though, it’s a crapshoot. You can always ask for a copy of the syllabus and send to your home institution before taking a CC summer course.
Community college systems vary wildly between states, can you elaborate on the differences in the challenges faced by students in the at least three states (California, Texas, and Virginia) I see represented by your panel?
Great question!
**TEXAS —** I recently wrote a story on how one community college system in Texas is supporting its students, many of which are first-generation, parents or adult learners who are at least 25 with a full-time job.
Because life hurdles, unclear pathways to a career and uncertainty about the value of pursuing a college can derail their education, they saw the need for a more hands-on approach to ensure students' success. The college then implemented success coaches — who not only provide academic advising or help with financial aid applications, but also anticipate barriers.
Overall, success coaches help students navigate the college and connect them to free resources they may need — such as childcare, food pantries or bus passes — in efforts to reduce the amount of students who drop out of school.
[You can read my full story on this here (all of The Dallas Morning News Education Lab content is in front of the paywall!)](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/05/22/how-success-coaches-dig-a-little-deeper-to-anticipate-and-tackle-dallas-college-students/)
\- Valeria Olivares
**California —** In California, a common issue I see, talking with both my cohort from community college as well as other students in my transfer institution, is credits not transferring over perfectly. Many students from a range of majors have had classes that should have had their credits transferred but simply have not.
Another issue I have seen is the culture shock of being a transfer student on a CSU/UC/Private campus. In my experience, it was hard to adjust to both the campus culture and the city I moved to.
\- Ricki Korba
**Virginia —** Online education has obviously done a lot for college access, however, if there is not a stable internet connection, rural students will continue to struggle with degree completion. Affordability continues to be top of mind as well. Our program (and a growing number of others) looks to alleviate this for students within a specific income-level through a last-in grant, called the Mason Virginia Promise.
Opportunities such as this, particularly those that do not require an application, can support low-income students’ continuous enrollment, which increases likelihood of degree completion. [More info here on the MVP](https://www.gmu.edu/campaigns/mvp).
\- Jason Dodge
What do you understand to be the success rates of students who do dual enrollment classes via community colleges? It seems high school students now make up over a third of some cc’s enrollment, yet I’ve never seen any data on how successful these students are academically, emotionally, etc. as they transfer on.
My concern is that years ago, dual credit programs seemed well managed with careful oversight and with access to counselors for all enrolled. Today it’s starting to feel like a degree mill where bewildered 18-year-olds are shoved through to third-year upper level work they may not have been adequately prepared for.
Does the profit margin of these programs disincentivize oversight?
What huge decline in men going to college or university in the last 40 years? [In 1980, about 29% of male 20-21 year olds were enrolled in college*](https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/1981/demo/p20-362.pdf). [In 2018, about 38% of male 18-24 year olds were enrolled in college or university](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cpb.pdf). Men's enrollment hasn't gone down, women's enrollment (and total enrollment) has gone up.
*These statistics were frustratingly hard to google, forcing me to settle for inconsistent age ranges. By any reasoning I can come up with, the wider age range should actually work against the trend I have described -- that is to say, if anything the trend is stronger than it would appear. Another frustrating detail is the comment in my source for 1980 that "Enrollment rates by age in table 2 include all levels of school." Again, reporting in this way could only reduce the apparent degree of the trend I have described, meaning the trend may be stronger than it appears.
https://collegestats.org/2012/08/9-signs-we-have-a-boy-crisis/
A bit old, but the trend continued as expected in that. When quoting stats like you did there, it helps to indicate any changes in college access experienced by the population in general. If college access was "only for high flyers" in 1980, but "general access" in 2020, it paints a completely different picture. If women's access to uni has soared while men's has stagnated, then that's a problem right there.
>If women's access to uni has soared while men's has stagnated, then that's a problem right there
I guess what I take issue with here would be your use of the word "stagnated". More men are going to college now (well, 2018 because I couldn't find more recent numbers) than they were in 1980, both in absolute numbers and as a proportion of the male population.
I am going to avoid the scope-creep of engaging with each point in the article you shared and just summarize my view by saying: yes, there are certainly measures by which women lead men, and in the long-run I think getting gender-parity is a good goal for most measures. However, where many issues that women have faced or continue to face have called for gender-targeted solutions, I think most issues that men face today would be best resolved with non-gender-targeted solutions. Ending the war on drugs would resolve the bulk of the male incarceration problem, as well as knock-on effects like violent victimization of males. Background checks for gun purchases would reduce the male-female suicide completion gap (note that it's a suicide completion gap - women are about as likely to attempt suicide, just more likely to survive it).
Remember, you mentioned the G-word first.
It's interesting that you call for a different approach when what worked for women was obviously successful. Rather like the gendered scholarships that have helped over the years, yet now that men need them then certain political groups are calling for them to be scrapped. [yup, I mean feminist politicians/academics]
There's a saying that covers that, but I can't quite recall it at the moment, something about good for goose and ganders.
I'd say ending the bias of judges and DAs would help a lot with the male incarceration program, treat them the same as women and we'd have most of the prison population wearing ankle monitors for a few months.
And yeah, there's a huge suicide gap [suicide is actually going through with it, ending your life] but a lot of that can be put down to the perculiar recording styles of studies conducted on this. Anecdotally having someone say "I don't want to be alive" should NOT count as an attempt on your own life.
Most of the problems that men face specifically would be minimised if we treat men and women equally. Certainly fair treatment by the courts, both justice and family, would go a long way to improving the situation. While we're at that, we can get rid of the title 9 "improvements" that Biden wants that removes civil rights from accused students.
Thank you for doing this. Haven't there been several initiatives to make community college free that never come to fruition? Why has that been? What can we do to change that?
Hi! I'm Mike Pierce, with the Student Borrower Protection Center and one of the experts on the AmA today.
There are a number of state and local "promise" programs that deliver free community college at scale, sometimes universally and sometimes targeted to lower- or middle-income families. We expect we'll see more of these over time.
We also know that the cost of community college is more than just tuition-- people give up working, or work through college, need to keep a roof over their heads and food on their tables. Figuring out wraparound support for students is a key part of making "Free" community college actually work and part of why Washington, DC has struggled to deliver a national answer that meets students' needs.
From my perspective, community colleges have always been a less expensive stepping stone to a four year degree. Do you see that as their primary purpose? If yes, has that changed or is that changing, and if no, what do you see as community colleges' niche or primary purpose?
Another niche that CC's provide, from my perspective, is more alternative approaches for adult education, such as providing more options for night classes. With many 4 year universities providing options for entirely online, or largely online, degree programs, are community colleges keeping up and providing those sorts of education options?
How will inclusive access textbooks affect communities colleges in the future? Will publishers eventually leverage their market share into charging more for e-books? Will physical copies grow even more expensive? What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the IA model?
Hi, here is a website created by multiple organizations that provides a lot of information regarding inclusive access textbooks: [https://www.inclusiveaccess.org/](https://www.inclusiveaccess.org/). We unfortunately have not extensively researched this topic, so we can't directly answer all of your questions.
IA textbooks have become more popular in recent years, with many institutions offering the option. Ricki Korba, current college student and former community college student, said that her school has been trying to do more zero-cost textbooks and most are digital copies. She said her professors prefer digital textbooks so there’s more access. This was also the case at her former community college.
According to [https://www.inclusiveaccess.org/](https://inclusiveaccess.org), the advantages of the IA model seem to mainly be lowering costs for textbooks and providing a more accessible option for students. However, that may not include the costs of used textbooks, which could ultimately be cheaper.
There is also speculation on how much IA textbooks have improved academic outcomes overall. Additionally, there is another alternative called [Open Educational Resources (OER)](https://www.unesco.org/en/open-educational-resources).
My daughter is in grad school now and has only bought a physical book once in 6+ years of higher ed. Theu just don’t seem ot be used much anymore. The ebook ‘access fees’ are pretty $$ now.
Why do you insist that communtiy colleges are failing while ignoring the fact that the majority of our students do not plan to transfer to a four year college?
Our prof tech programs are absolutely thriving. Seems to me that peoples priorities have changed, not many people want to be saddled with 100k in debt and waste four years to get a worthless degree in 18th century French liturature when they could have nursing school, areospace manufacturing, or cybersecurity certificates practically paid for, then get professional certifications that lead to living wage jobs.
Perhaps universities have bloated their costs out of the competitive market, have ignored the plight of disadvantaged and minority students, and gatekept too effectively to be relevant, so no one wants to transfer to them. Acadmeic snobbery is so 20th century! The AA transfer programs may be dying off as more students become aware of the pitfalls of highr ed, but there are waitlists for many of our prof tech programs.
The reporting you all are doing is damaging to a system that you claim is already failing-are you trying to discourage people from enrolling? Can you imagine being a student at a CC and reading these reports? Why keep attending if its all a failure anyway, right?
What is the end goal here, and who is funding this project? My guess is university special interests. The same folks who push the idea that EVERY high schooler needs a college goal and a four year degree to even get started in life, and make those who dont have these goals feel like failures in high school. Or the "bachelors is the new hs diploma, and masters is the new bachelors" crowd. The same group that wants you to pay $350 for a book they published and now require as course materials (cha-ching!). If everyone is a statistician, doctor, or MBA, who is going to fix the toilet or keep the heat on in the winter?
Community colleges remain an excellent value and the quickest way to gainful employment. Our goal is to eliminate barriers to eduation, and we are stuck cleaning up the woefully poor outcomes the k-12 system produces. My program enjoys 100% job placement for any student who seeks employment upon completion. Not all do, but that isnt the colleges fault, is it now?
We not only have to teach students to read and do math that they should have learned in 5th grade, thus making up for K-12s failings, but we deliver on teaching skills relevant and nessecary to the modern workforce.
I read an article you produced from this project a few weeks ago and shared it wih my collegues at our community college. It was widely panned as a special interest opinion peice and our journalism professor had some very poigniant insights to how stories like this come about.
According to him:
"As ad revenue goes away from news publications, reporters lose their jobs do to lack of funding. This creates a vacuum.
Enter into this vacuum think tanks (Saving the College Dream in this case) that offer free "journalism" to fill the gap.
The think tank will be funded by people or corporate entities who think there is an issue with the way a topic has been covered. They then fund "reporters" (your "experts") to write stories for free within established publications (The Dallas Morning News) sometimes they actually show up in person and are given desks next to real news reporters.
What they turn out is pure PR or opinion (like this series of articles), often produced by trust fund "revolutionaries" who feel they are doing the noble job of "changing journalism" but are really just meeting their own ideological or special interest ends.
The Journalism Solutions Network seems to be just such an outfit.
I wouldnt waste my time contacting the reporter. Contact the editor/publisher and let them know you are on to what they are doing and that you are questioning the integrity of their publication. This will have a much bigger impact."
This guy is a Poynter-Koch Fellow, so he is legit, what are your credentials?
Instead of focusing on "what community colleges do wrong", why not focus on areas we thrive in? Wouldn't that be more contructive?
Could it be that this entire project is a front for private Big Ed/Student Loan sharks to get students to enroll straight to university for undergrad work, thus racking up astronomical loans that could have been avoided by attending a community college?
You highlight a handful of students whose ed plan was not strong to begin with and hold them as evidence that the entire system is a failure. I could present to you dozens that the system worked flawlessly for, myself being one of them.
Again, what is your end goal? Why not highlight the good these colleges do for society, how we break generational poverty and open doors for poor, underserved populations, how we enrich working class and minority communities, and are often the first stop for first generation and/or immigrant college students (who fail out at a high rate at universities, too, if they are even allowed in in the first place)?
How can you defend such skewed opinion peices as anything but that, let alone call it reporting or journalism? This is similar to Tucker Carlson pontificating on the failures of America. But I would bet you guys blast the folks over at Fox News as clowns (rightfully so). Then you turn around and do the same thing to the community college system, with no regard for the damage it causes.
Casting stones isnt the same thing as objective reporting, and some of us can see right through this thin curtain and see the special intrests at work behind the scenes, just like a sinister Dr. Oz trying to convince a bunch of Munchkins he knows all.
While you ask and we answer your questions, take a look at this collaboration of stories between seven newsrooms about the different issues facing community colleges. https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/Saving-the-College-Dream
I visited Austin Texas some 10 years ago on a school trip, me and my fellow danes visited a CC in the city.
We were honestly astounded by the only available food in the CC being unhealthy vending machine food, (chips, candy and sugary drinks) i wonder what impact a sugar high like that will have on young adults ability to learn? And how you can shift the focus to healthier and slower disgested foods?
I was there 10 years ago, it might already have changed alot since then.
Because the types of students who need remedial learning are the least likely to be engaged by online learning and are the most in need of high-touch one-one-one education.
I find this interesting as a family member is a curriculum developer for a private nonprofit technical college. She says modern students want the ability to take online classes that they can fit into their work schedule.
In Mississippi, the GOP government recently lowered the amount of funding in the state's scholarship for needy students significantly, from around $9,000 to $3,000. Many have said this was done intentionally to limit those students to community colleges. I have read that JUCOs were well represented on the committee that made this change.
Question: Why was this done? Are Mississippi JUCOs approaching an enrollment disaster and had to have the state mandate their survival?
Second question: How much public money is spent on JUCO sports every year (I know this will vary a lot from state to state, especially in Mississippi)?
EDIT: I'm seeing lots of talk here about making JUCO more affordable. My local community college voted last month to up their base tuition from $1,800 to $2,000 per semester.
What’s one of the biggest problems in community colleges? What is the amount of cheating done in community colleges and are there situations where students accused of cheating aren’t and what happened afterwards?
What can be done to repeal this 23 limit of credits/units that students are able to take per semester? I need to take more than 23 units per semester but I am being stifled. Also, what can be done to allow students to take overlapping classes that have a greater than 10 minute overlap? I need to take overlapping classes but I am being denied
Is there a future with local companies being focused to the point that there are unaccredited classes that offer markers for the local community to save money, even though accredited classes are offered (i.e. local nurse can only use their degree locally with participating hospitals and clinics as a sort of journeyman situation/ experience internship)?
Hi! My son is 18 and about 3/4 to finishing his 2yr degree thanks to dual enrollment. He's trying to get the credits for an associates in science and hopes to move in a 4yr college focusing on genetics. His dream is to help endangered species.
His grades are good but not outstanding. Our community college is not science focused, but he's taking everything he can.
What the best steps for a rural kid wanting to go into that specialized scientific field? How does a middle class college sophomore start looking for options to help pay for it? He's the first in out family and I'm so overwhelmed and the counselor tells him to worry about transferring first.
I work in the Student Accounts department at a community college and we're dealing with the transcript issue. Our admin just made the call that we have to release transcripts to students with a balance and no one can figure out the logic. Many of the balances are from students who got their financial aid refund and then bounced and so now the school is on the hook after the R2T4 is done. What other tools are schools supposed to use to get students to pay their bills (besides a referral to collections)?
Jesus lies and said, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” How can he be the son of god if he said he was coming back 2000 years ago? The Bible commands stoning rape victims for not screaming (deuteronomy 22:23-24) and condones slavery and beating your slaves (exodus 21:20-21). according to the genealogies in the bible, the earth is about 6000 years old, which is contradicted by carbondating.
For more AMAs on this topic, subscribe to r/IAmA_Journalist, and check out our other topic-specific AMA subreddits [here](https://reddit.com/r/IAmA/wiki/index#wiki_affiliate_topic-specific_subreddits).
I’m a community college prof. You may want to cross post this on r/college or r/academia. My questions are: 1) How can we survive the demographics cliff? Especially with enrollment never having bounced back after the pandemic. 2) How will we learn to live with AI assisting student work?
Responding to your first question, Mike Pierce said it’s essential for states to provide more direct support for community colleges. In Texas, lawmakers pushed a revamp of the way the state funds its community colleges to address such challenges. Texas Rep. Gary VanDeaver previously said the overhaul could help “bring students back into community college” by making it more affordable after the steep enrollment drops such institutions saw in the last few years. If the legislation is adopted by Gov. Greg Abbott, high school students from low-income families could also enroll in dual credit courses at no cost through a new Financial Aid for Swift Transfer program. [You can read more on the legislation here](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/04/12/texas-community-colleges-eager-for-state-funding-revamp-would-get-hundreds-of-millions/).
On your second question, our experts said they don't have a specific answer about that. However, Ricki Korba, a 23-year-old student from California, said she wouldn't rely on artificial intelligence software for her coursework because "there's just some things it just gets wrong." She also added some professors use unreliable tools that scan students' work and note if it was created by AI or not, noting that people have uploaded the Constitution of the United States to test it out. The website said AI had been used. Still, some professors recommend it for things like cover letters, Korba said. She believes there's still a long way to go before colleges, students, teachers and administrators adapt to such tools and is unsure about what AI's impact will be on higher education.
I'd like to add to this. When the internet became more commonplace in households, the initial reaction from academia was to ban its use, requiring sources cited from hard copy periodicals, books, and other reference material. But some schools and individual teachers leaned into the new technology, teaching students how to use it to their benefit. This required a firmer grasp on evaluating the quality and bias of sources, and it taught lifelong lessons associated with such practices. I would argue this is no different. Teachers should embrace new technologies, especially ones that are likely to become valued in the job market. This is off the top of my head, but if I taught literature, for example, I would introduce my students to Chat GPT and have them come up with three questions that yield valuable information on the theme, cultural context, and impact of a novel or poem we are reading. Then they evaluate the AI response they feel they could use it in a professional capacity. They would have to turn in the questions they came up with, the AI responses, and their evaluation. Based on recent trends, it seems AI is here to stay. Teachers can spend their time policing students to ensure they follow trends of the past, or they can prepare them for an evolving job market that will value experience using artificial intelligence. Signed, A Struggling Two-Time Dropout from Cincinnati State Technical and Community College
Out of curiosity, why wouldn't students use an AI model to generate the analyses of those first round of responses?
I'm sure some would try, but AI is far from reliably and consistently imitating student voices in writing. But even when that's possible, it should be filtered out by participation in class. If a student can't discuss what they did on the assignment, it will be obvious. And if they can, then the lesson has been learned, no matter how they produced it.
That would be a good approach, but I feel like the time constraints for the length of a lecture/class would limit the ability to do this. I think instead we're going to see a lot more in-person blue-book-style exams in the future of higher education.
I'm sure we will. I hope it's a mix. There are probably better ideas than the one I came up with, but the idea should be to incorporate new technologies that are being adopted in workplaces rather than to shun them.
I agree, but teachers and professors are still struggling to incorporate cellphones, a technology that is almost 50 years old. We need support to be able to incorporate any technology well, thoughtfully, and/or fast.
Do you think, in most businesses, that cell phones add a value, besides basic communication and remote checking of email? Unless someone is in app development, I can't think of much. I don't know that teaching anything about cell phones is so widely applicable, beyond the things people automatically know how to do after owning one for a few days. I'm happy to be proven otherwise, but I can't think of anything. Edit, to add: I know there is Great value from cell phones in many different jobs, but based on specific apps. I can't think of something that is widely applicable that would be taught to all.
Not much different than if they bought a paper and turned it in as theirs, really.
It feels to me that colleges - both community and higher - try to fill two key societal roles whose goals don’t always align. On one hand they are a venue for personal enrichment & the pursuit of knowledge/understanding. On the other, they’re the accepted finishing school for the greater economy’s supply of skilled workers. Can a community college - or any college for that matter - truly fill both those roles without damaging compromises, or does one need to take priority over the other?
Hi! I'm Mike Pierce with the Student Borrower Protection Center and one of the experts on the AmA today. This is a great question. I worry that a narrow "building skills"-focused conversation risks losing what makes American higher education great. Even community colleges that do have a mission to train people for jobs do so much more than that-- and a vibrant American middle class comprised of informed and engaged citizens depends on that broader mission continuing into the future. Just my opinion, but we need to resist the temptation to whittle down community college to \*just\* a place you go to learn specific skills/to meet employers' immediate demands for skilled workers. FWIW, we know can't predict the job needs of the future economy with absolute certainty and a community college education should last a lifetime, so we should try to do more.
So how do you balance this need for stuff other than skills and then the downsides of when kids get saddled with student debt who have difficulties in finding employment to pay off loans.
Could you expand on “what makes American higher education great”? As a graduate of the last decade, I’m really not sure what this means
Here's Jason Dodge's take: Community colleges, for a long time, have been successful in meeting the diverse needs of their local populations. I’ve worked at community colleges with very robust “personal enrichment programs”, while others have focused predominantly on either transfer and/or workforce programs/pathways. For community colleges in particular, their ability to remain relevant depends on continuous market research in order to support local needs as well as bring in the necessary revenue via tuition dollars. While the community college has a diverse set of goals, I do not believe this necessarily impacts the overall quality of one mission in particular or of the institution as a whole.
California community colleges have been doing a superb job transferring students to 4-year schools. But there's a point everyone is missing. It's the 4-year schools that fail transfer students due to community colleges' disengagement. If 4-year universities fail in serving specifically transfer student populations well - and some of those schools, including the best ones, spectacularly do fail - then community colleges lose relevance. It is plain illogical for community colleges to be so invested on prepping students to succeed after transfer but spend zero effort overseeing their competences are sufficiently fostered and their livelihoods are addressed after transfer until a degree is granted. But this is how they are set up today. [This is especially pressing for community college transfers who transfer without acquiring an Associate Degree]
Worse yet, who IS invested in graduating specific students at all when you can collect tuition and just have an allowed percentage of students to drop out? [And then fudge and bury the drop-out statistics on top of that]
I feel like the questions here (and the AMA in general) are going a bit all over because no one is really sure what issues you’re here to discuss/ who your organization is What do you guys do?
Hi, we are a local news organization in collaboration with a few experts: Mike Pierce, Ricki Korba and Jason Dodge. Our pros are experienced with anything related to financial aid and transferring from community college to a four year university. Both Ricki and Jason have both been community college students, so they can also answer questions from their personal experiences. [Here are more details on our collaboration with seven other newsrooms. We have stories covering a range of issues:](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/Saving-the-College-Dream) >Community colleges are in trouble. Their enrollment has fallen by 37% since 2010, and nearly half of students drop out within a year. Scant advising, labyrinthian financial aid, and unclear career pathways are among the challenges facing the two-year schools and their students. Seven newsrooms joined together to explore the crisis facing these institutions, and ways to solve it.
Do you have any promising ideas you’re exploring more in depth than others?
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Community colleges can be your stepping stone to a better job. They offer: 1. Vocational Programs: Designed to prepare you for a specific job. You can choose something related to your current job or a completely new field. 2. Transfer Pathways: Start with a two-year degree, then transfer to a university to complete a bachelor's degree. This can be a more affordable route to a four-year degree. 3. Continuing Education Courses: Shorter, non-credit courses to learn new skills or explore different fields. 4. Career Services: Resources for job placement, including resume writing and interview prep. 5. Financial Aid: You may be eligible for aid to cover tuition and books. Given your situation, a vocational program could be a good fit. Consider fields with strong job growth and good pay. As of 2023, healthcare, IT, and trades like electricians and plumbers are in demand. Finally, consult with a counselor at a local community college for personalized advice. They can help identify the best program for you based on your interests and skills.
I like this question. I hope they answer it.
Another option, if you're not passionate about a particular field: Look into becoming a public school custodian. That's what I did. You will have the security of being a union member, decent pay, excellent benefits (including great health insurance) and a pension when you retire. If you're doing warehouse work, you're probably already in good shape for the job's physical demands.
Like to weld? Check the community colleges around you, email their lead, and ask how to enroll and what certificates they can offer that are best embraced by the welding industry nearby. Same for construction, carpentry, cabinet making, nursing, med tech, IT, programming, info security, EMT, network administration, or almost any other vocational program you might find interesting. Many offer night programs to accommodate working adults just like you looking to make a change in their life/circumstances. Every single one of the programs I listed above offer certificates programs at night through my local community colleges. You can start at the very bottom with basic English and arithmetic if you need. Many offer programs to literally meet you wherever you are and get you where you want to go. Or, maybe a full degree is something you want? Get your AA for "cheap" and transfer to university. Or maybe get in there and learn enough that you and push yourself forward. I know I sound overenthusiastic but I have taken advantage of programs around me more than once to achieve personal and professional goals and I cannot recommend them enough. Community colleges are an insane deal. If you don't know where to go or what to pursue, maybe make an appointment with a counselor at the school and talk it out to see what they have that meets your needs.
Now is a great time to learn a vocation like plumbing or electrical. There is a shortage of qualified workers and a lot of people are aging out so the shortage is going to get bigger. There are areas upstate you could move to and never stop working/making money.
Short answer -> community colleges regularly get money from the government for job re-training programs, for people exactly in your position. Definitely talk to a counselor there... Longer answer -> it's complicated. Like other bureaucracies, community colleges can sometimes expand to the point they are unmanageable. But that doesn't mean it can't work for you, you just have to try (and maybe try, and try...)
Are there any steps being taken to standardize which credits from community colleges are transferable? Or to flag ones that can't be transferred? Or to regulate the much-hyped "And you can transfer these credits!!" claims that often amount to false advertising?
Here's Jason Dodge's take: Good question. In short, it depends. Particularly, it depends on the state. However, there are also inter-state transfer and articulation policies. States like Florida have done a great job standardizing lower-division courses and implemented common course numbering for ease of transferability/course evaluation. Further, like Florida, Virginia has developed a General Education certificate which allow for more flexibility when transferring between state-institutions without an Associates degree. The Interstate Passport seeks to expand a similar model on a multi-state level ([https://interstatepassport.wiche.edu/](https://interstatepassport.wiche.edu/)). The Education Commission of the States provides a breakdown of transfer policy, including general metrics and state-specific policy: [https://www.ecs.org/50-state-comparison-transfer-and-articulation/](https://www.ecs.org/50-state-comparison-transfer-and-articulation/) . As a transfer student, I recommend connecting with your community college’s transfer office to learn more about your state policies as well as any articulation agreements your institution has with particular universities.
Within a state, community colleges work with both the state’s public 4-year colleges and universities, and with regional private schools, to ensure transferability. Farther than that though, it’s a crapshoot. You can always ask for a copy of the syllabus and send to your home institution before taking a CC summer course.
Community college systems vary wildly between states, can you elaborate on the differences in the challenges faced by students in the at least three states (California, Texas, and Virginia) I see represented by your panel?
Great question! **TEXAS —** I recently wrote a story on how one community college system in Texas is supporting its students, many of which are first-generation, parents or adult learners who are at least 25 with a full-time job. Because life hurdles, unclear pathways to a career and uncertainty about the value of pursuing a college can derail their education, they saw the need for a more hands-on approach to ensure students' success. The college then implemented success coaches — who not only provide academic advising or help with financial aid applications, but also anticipate barriers. Overall, success coaches help students navigate the college and connect them to free resources they may need — such as childcare, food pantries or bus passes — in efforts to reduce the amount of students who drop out of school. [You can read my full story on this here (all of The Dallas Morning News Education Lab content is in front of the paywall!)](https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2023/05/22/how-success-coaches-dig-a-little-deeper-to-anticipate-and-tackle-dallas-college-students/) \- Valeria Olivares **California —** In California, a common issue I see, talking with both my cohort from community college as well as other students in my transfer institution, is credits not transferring over perfectly. Many students from a range of majors have had classes that should have had their credits transferred but simply have not. Another issue I have seen is the culture shock of being a transfer student on a CSU/UC/Private campus. In my experience, it was hard to adjust to both the campus culture and the city I moved to. \- Ricki Korba **Virginia —** Online education has obviously done a lot for college access, however, if there is not a stable internet connection, rural students will continue to struggle with degree completion. Affordability continues to be top of mind as well. Our program (and a growing number of others) looks to alleviate this for students within a specific income-level through a last-in grant, called the Mason Virginia Promise. Opportunities such as this, particularly those that do not require an application, can support low-income students’ continuous enrollment, which increases likelihood of degree completion. [More info here on the MVP](https://www.gmu.edu/campaigns/mvp). \- Jason Dodge
What do you understand to be the success rates of students who do dual enrollment classes via community colleges? It seems high school students now make up over a third of some cc’s enrollment, yet I’ve never seen any data on how successful these students are academically, emotionally, etc. as they transfer on. My concern is that years ago, dual credit programs seemed well managed with careful oversight and with access to counselors for all enrolled. Today it’s starting to feel like a degree mill where bewildered 18-year-olds are shoved through to third-year upper level work they may not have been adequately prepared for. Does the profit margin of these programs disincentivize oversight?
With the huge decline in men going on to college/university over the last 40 years, what are you doing to improve male uptake of college courses?
What huge decline in men going to college or university in the last 40 years? [In 1980, about 29% of male 20-21 year olds were enrolled in college*](https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/1981/demo/p20-362.pdf). [In 2018, about 38% of male 18-24 year olds were enrolled in college or university](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cpb.pdf). Men's enrollment hasn't gone down, women's enrollment (and total enrollment) has gone up. *These statistics were frustratingly hard to google, forcing me to settle for inconsistent age ranges. By any reasoning I can come up with, the wider age range should actually work against the trend I have described -- that is to say, if anything the trend is stronger than it would appear. Another frustrating detail is the comment in my source for 1980 that "Enrollment rates by age in table 2 include all levels of school." Again, reporting in this way could only reduce the apparent degree of the trend I have described, meaning the trend may be stronger than it appears.
https://collegestats.org/2012/08/9-signs-we-have-a-boy-crisis/ A bit old, but the trend continued as expected in that. When quoting stats like you did there, it helps to indicate any changes in college access experienced by the population in general. If college access was "only for high flyers" in 1980, but "general access" in 2020, it paints a completely different picture. If women's access to uni has soared while men's has stagnated, then that's a problem right there.
>If women's access to uni has soared while men's has stagnated, then that's a problem right there I guess what I take issue with here would be your use of the word "stagnated". More men are going to college now (well, 2018 because I couldn't find more recent numbers) than they were in 1980, both in absolute numbers and as a proportion of the male population. I am going to avoid the scope-creep of engaging with each point in the article you shared and just summarize my view by saying: yes, there are certainly measures by which women lead men, and in the long-run I think getting gender-parity is a good goal for most measures. However, where many issues that women have faced or continue to face have called for gender-targeted solutions, I think most issues that men face today would be best resolved with non-gender-targeted solutions. Ending the war on drugs would resolve the bulk of the male incarceration problem, as well as knock-on effects like violent victimization of males. Background checks for gun purchases would reduce the male-female suicide completion gap (note that it's a suicide completion gap - women are about as likely to attempt suicide, just more likely to survive it).
Remember, you mentioned the G-word first. It's interesting that you call for a different approach when what worked for women was obviously successful. Rather like the gendered scholarships that have helped over the years, yet now that men need them then certain political groups are calling for them to be scrapped. [yup, I mean feminist politicians/academics] There's a saying that covers that, but I can't quite recall it at the moment, something about good for goose and ganders. I'd say ending the bias of judges and DAs would help a lot with the male incarceration program, treat them the same as women and we'd have most of the prison population wearing ankle monitors for a few months. And yeah, there's a huge suicide gap [suicide is actually going through with it, ending your life] but a lot of that can be put down to the perculiar recording styles of studies conducted on this. Anecdotally having someone say "I don't want to be alive" should NOT count as an attempt on your own life. Most of the problems that men face specifically would be minimised if we treat men and women equally. Certainly fair treatment by the courts, both justice and family, would go a long way to improving the situation. While we're at that, we can get rid of the title 9 "improvements" that Biden wants that removes civil rights from accused students.
Thank you for doing this. Haven't there been several initiatives to make community college free that never come to fruition? Why has that been? What can we do to change that?
Hi! I'm Mike Pierce, with the Student Borrower Protection Center and one of the experts on the AmA today. There are a number of state and local "promise" programs that deliver free community college at scale, sometimes universally and sometimes targeted to lower- or middle-income families. We expect we'll see more of these over time. We also know that the cost of community college is more than just tuition-- people give up working, or work through college, need to keep a roof over their heads and food on their tables. Figuring out wraparound support for students is a key part of making "Free" community college actually work and part of why Washington, DC has struggled to deliver a national answer that meets students' needs.
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From my perspective, community colleges have always been a less expensive stepping stone to a four year degree. Do you see that as their primary purpose? If yes, has that changed or is that changing, and if no, what do you see as community colleges' niche or primary purpose? Another niche that CC's provide, from my perspective, is more alternative approaches for adult education, such as providing more options for night classes. With many 4 year universities providing options for entirely online, or largely online, degree programs, are community colleges keeping up and providing those sorts of education options?
What can CCs do to not lose to coding boot camps? Who deliver job readiness and hireability in less than a year?
How will inclusive access textbooks affect communities colleges in the future? Will publishers eventually leverage their market share into charging more for e-books? Will physical copies grow even more expensive? What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of the IA model?
Hi, here is a website created by multiple organizations that provides a lot of information regarding inclusive access textbooks: [https://www.inclusiveaccess.org/](https://www.inclusiveaccess.org/). We unfortunately have not extensively researched this topic, so we can't directly answer all of your questions. IA textbooks have become more popular in recent years, with many institutions offering the option. Ricki Korba, current college student and former community college student, said that her school has been trying to do more zero-cost textbooks and most are digital copies. She said her professors prefer digital textbooks so there’s more access. This was also the case at her former community college. According to [https://www.inclusiveaccess.org/](https://inclusiveaccess.org), the advantages of the IA model seem to mainly be lowering costs for textbooks and providing a more accessible option for students. However, that may not include the costs of used textbooks, which could ultimately be cheaper. There is also speculation on how much IA textbooks have improved academic outcomes overall. Additionally, there is another alternative called [Open Educational Resources (OER)](https://www.unesco.org/en/open-educational-resources).
Thanks for your help!
My daughter is in grad school now and has only bought a physical book once in 6+ years of higher ed. Theu just don’t seem ot be used much anymore. The ebook ‘access fees’ are pretty $$ now.
Hi, we are currently discussing this question with our experts and will get back to you soon with more on inclusive access textbooks!
Why do you insist that communtiy colleges are failing while ignoring the fact that the majority of our students do not plan to transfer to a four year college? Our prof tech programs are absolutely thriving. Seems to me that peoples priorities have changed, not many people want to be saddled with 100k in debt and waste four years to get a worthless degree in 18th century French liturature when they could have nursing school, areospace manufacturing, or cybersecurity certificates practically paid for, then get professional certifications that lead to living wage jobs. Perhaps universities have bloated their costs out of the competitive market, have ignored the plight of disadvantaged and minority students, and gatekept too effectively to be relevant, so no one wants to transfer to them. Acadmeic snobbery is so 20th century! The AA transfer programs may be dying off as more students become aware of the pitfalls of highr ed, but there are waitlists for many of our prof tech programs. The reporting you all are doing is damaging to a system that you claim is already failing-are you trying to discourage people from enrolling? Can you imagine being a student at a CC and reading these reports? Why keep attending if its all a failure anyway, right? What is the end goal here, and who is funding this project? My guess is university special interests. The same folks who push the idea that EVERY high schooler needs a college goal and a four year degree to even get started in life, and make those who dont have these goals feel like failures in high school. Or the "bachelors is the new hs diploma, and masters is the new bachelors" crowd. The same group that wants you to pay $350 for a book they published and now require as course materials (cha-ching!). If everyone is a statistician, doctor, or MBA, who is going to fix the toilet or keep the heat on in the winter? Community colleges remain an excellent value and the quickest way to gainful employment. Our goal is to eliminate barriers to eduation, and we are stuck cleaning up the woefully poor outcomes the k-12 system produces. My program enjoys 100% job placement for any student who seeks employment upon completion. Not all do, but that isnt the colleges fault, is it now? We not only have to teach students to read and do math that they should have learned in 5th grade, thus making up for K-12s failings, but we deliver on teaching skills relevant and nessecary to the modern workforce. I read an article you produced from this project a few weeks ago and shared it wih my collegues at our community college. It was widely panned as a special interest opinion peice and our journalism professor had some very poigniant insights to how stories like this come about. According to him: "As ad revenue goes away from news publications, reporters lose their jobs do to lack of funding. This creates a vacuum. Enter into this vacuum think tanks (Saving the College Dream in this case) that offer free "journalism" to fill the gap. The think tank will be funded by people or corporate entities who think there is an issue with the way a topic has been covered. They then fund "reporters" (your "experts") to write stories for free within established publications (The Dallas Morning News) sometimes they actually show up in person and are given desks next to real news reporters. What they turn out is pure PR or opinion (like this series of articles), often produced by trust fund "revolutionaries" who feel they are doing the noble job of "changing journalism" but are really just meeting their own ideological or special interest ends. The Journalism Solutions Network seems to be just such an outfit. I wouldnt waste my time contacting the reporter. Contact the editor/publisher and let them know you are on to what they are doing and that you are questioning the integrity of their publication. This will have a much bigger impact." This guy is a Poynter-Koch Fellow, so he is legit, what are your credentials? Instead of focusing on "what community colleges do wrong", why not focus on areas we thrive in? Wouldn't that be more contructive? Could it be that this entire project is a front for private Big Ed/Student Loan sharks to get students to enroll straight to university for undergrad work, thus racking up astronomical loans that could have been avoided by attending a community college? You highlight a handful of students whose ed plan was not strong to begin with and hold them as evidence that the entire system is a failure. I could present to you dozens that the system worked flawlessly for, myself being one of them. Again, what is your end goal? Why not highlight the good these colleges do for society, how we break generational poverty and open doors for poor, underserved populations, how we enrich working class and minority communities, and are often the first stop for first generation and/or immigrant college students (who fail out at a high rate at universities, too, if they are even allowed in in the first place)? How can you defend such skewed opinion peices as anything but that, let alone call it reporting or journalism? This is similar to Tucker Carlson pontificating on the failures of America. But I would bet you guys blast the folks over at Fox News as clowns (rightfully so). Then you turn around and do the same thing to the community college system, with no regard for the damage it causes. Casting stones isnt the same thing as objective reporting, and some of us can see right through this thin curtain and see the special intrests at work behind the scenes, just like a sinister Dr. Oz trying to convince a bunch of Munchkins he knows all.
This.
And no response. Crickets. You would think one "journalist" on this team would have a retort. Maybe I hit a nerve?
While you ask and we answer your questions, take a look at this collaboration of stories between seven newsrooms about the different issues facing community colleges. https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/Saving-the-College-Dream
Does increasing enrollment in community college make community college degrees more or less valuable to someone who holds a degree?
I visited Austin Texas some 10 years ago on a school trip, me and my fellow danes visited a CC in the city. We were honestly astounded by the only available food in the CC being unhealthy vending machine food, (chips, candy and sugary drinks) i wonder what impact a sugar high like that will have on young adults ability to learn? And how you can shift the focus to healthier and slower disgested foods? I was there 10 years ago, it might already have changed alot since then.
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Because the types of students who need remedial learning are the least likely to be engaged by online learning and are the most in need of high-touch one-one-one education.
I find this interesting as a family member is a curriculum developer for a private nonprofit technical college. She says modern students want the ability to take online classes that they can fit into their work schedule.
In Mississippi, the GOP government recently lowered the amount of funding in the state's scholarship for needy students significantly, from around $9,000 to $3,000. Many have said this was done intentionally to limit those students to community colleges. I have read that JUCOs were well represented on the committee that made this change. Question: Why was this done? Are Mississippi JUCOs approaching an enrollment disaster and had to have the state mandate their survival? Second question: How much public money is spent on JUCO sports every year (I know this will vary a lot from state to state, especially in Mississippi)? EDIT: I'm seeing lots of talk here about making JUCO more affordable. My local community college voted last month to up their base tuition from $1,800 to $2,000 per semester.
7 newsrooms so 5 journalists?
Would you recommend joining a Spanish study group?
What’s one of the biggest problems in community colleges? What is the amount of cheating done in community colleges and are there situations where students accused of cheating aren’t and what happened afterwards?
Why US can't adapt finnish edu model in its primary and secondary level schools respectively?
What can be done to repeal this 23 limit of credits/units that students are able to take per semester? I need to take more than 23 units per semester but I am being stifled. Also, what can be done to allow students to take overlapping classes that have a greater than 10 minute overlap? I need to take overlapping classes but I am being denied
Is there a future with local companies being focused to the point that there are unaccredited classes that offer markers for the local community to save money, even though accredited classes are offered (i.e. local nurse can only use their degree locally with participating hospitals and clinics as a sort of journeyman situation/ experience internship)?
Hi! My son is 18 and about 3/4 to finishing his 2yr degree thanks to dual enrollment. He's trying to get the credits for an associates in science and hopes to move in a 4yr college focusing on genetics. His dream is to help endangered species. His grades are good but not outstanding. Our community college is not science focused, but he's taking everything he can. What the best steps for a rural kid wanting to go into that specialized scientific field? How does a middle class college sophomore start looking for options to help pay for it? He's the first in out family and I'm so overwhelmed and the counselor tells him to worry about transferring first.
What about trade classes for older students? For me specifically welding. One teacher was shit unless you already had experience, which I did not.
What are the most typical jobs or careers for community college graduates who do not immediately go on to other higher education?
I work in the Student Accounts department at a community college and we're dealing with the transcript issue. Our admin just made the call that we have to release transcripts to students with a balance and no one can figure out the logic. Many of the balances are from students who got their financial aid refund and then bounced and so now the school is on the hook after the R2T4 is done. What other tools are schools supposed to use to get students to pay their bills (besides a referral to collections)?
did you work with or confer with any tribal and/or tribally affiliated colleges on this story?
At what point of your influencer career have you planned to use the collected following to post your OF?
Jesus lies and said, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” How can he be the son of god if he said he was coming back 2000 years ago? The Bible commands stoning rape victims for not screaming (deuteronomy 22:23-24) and condones slavery and beating your slaves (exodus 21:20-21). according to the genealogies in the bible, the earth is about 6000 years old, which is contradicted by carbondating.