My main case is that students think that attending a community college is much cheaper than attending a four year institution out of high school, but in actual fact, due to the numerous barriers that students face, this might not be the case.
First,
students are lacking academic preparation by attending a community college
whose academic standards are lower than that of the four year institution. This
is negatively affecting students and ultimately leading to a longer college
career.
As
stated by Zamani, "… when only some credits were accepted, the
degree-completion rate fell to 42 percent. And more than half of the students
who transfer to four-year institutions receive only partial credit for their
previous coursework" (Zamani).
Next, students are lacking informative information about transfer
policies such as the articulation agreements as well as facts about financial loans which
are leading them to make poor decisions when transferring to a four year
institution.
As
stated by Scott Jaschik, “Four-year institutions would sometimes respond that
the transfer students seemed unaware of degree requirements” ... and “the
result of these mismatches in expectations was a situation in which many
community college students hoping to finish a bachelor's degree in two years at
a four-year institution found themselves taking longer (and paying more)”
(Jaschik).
Also students who transfer
to a four year institution face the financial burden of the increase in tuition
and fees. When students attend community college, they are able to live at home
which helps limit their expenses; when they move to a four year institution
they usually have either a much longer commute or they have to live on campus,
with all of the extra expenses those choices entail.
“The
price of textbooks at two year colleges has risen over 100 percent in the past
17 years, more rapidly than any other commodity during the same time period”
(cited in Transition Matters).
Lastly, students who move
from a community college to a four year institution lose their previous “community”
and suffer the sort of isolation often called “transfer shock”. This transfer shock includes academic articulation as well as a social barrier.
As
Laanan notes: "The term transfer shock has been used to characterize the
temporary dip in transfer students' academic performance (or GPA) in the first
or second semester after transferring" (Laanan).
Students who are able to attend and afford four year institutions should do so once they graduate high school and students who are unable to attend, should be provided with adequate information needed for a smooth transition.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Extra Credit - Writing Conference
On Wednesday, April 11, 2013 I attended the Undergraduate research writing conference. There I attended three power-points.
The first power point that I attended was a business proposal for a student funding program. The statistics that were displayed by this proposal were shocking and the rates at which student tuition is increasing is unreal. This was also interesting to me as it pertained to this course.
The second power point was a business proposal to persuade students to stop drinking water out of water bottles. I had no previous knowledge as to what harm water bottles cause the environment. This presentation pursuaded me to stop drinking water out of bottles and buy a Britta water bottle with a filter in order to drink tap water. Another shocking statistic and statement that was made in this power point presentation was the fact that water bottles are proven to be unhealthy. Therefore, to this day I drink tap water.
The last presentation that was presented was a very interesting presentation on the funding of stem cell research. As a person who is not interested in genetics or any human biology of that sort, I walked in there thinking that I would be inattentive, but came to realize that it was VERY interesting. Who thought that stem cell research could possibly cure paralysis?
I had a great time at this conference and learned a lot from the speakers!
The first power point that I attended was a business proposal for a student funding program. The statistics that were displayed by this proposal were shocking and the rates at which student tuition is increasing is unreal. This was also interesting to me as it pertained to this course.
The second power point was a business proposal to persuade students to stop drinking water out of water bottles. I had no previous knowledge as to what harm water bottles cause the environment. This presentation pursuaded me to stop drinking water out of bottles and buy a Britta water bottle with a filter in order to drink tap water. Another shocking statistic and statement that was made in this power point presentation was the fact that water bottles are proven to be unhealthy. Therefore, to this day I drink tap water.
The last presentation that was presented was a very interesting presentation on the funding of stem cell research. As a person who is not interested in genetics or any human biology of that sort, I walked in there thinking that I would be inattentive, but came to realize that it was VERY interesting. Who thought that stem cell research could possibly cure paralysis?
I had a great time at this conference and learned a lot from the speakers!
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Lit Review #4
Boswell, Katherine. "Building Bridges Or Barriers?
Public Policies that Facilitate Or Impede Linkages between Community
Colleges and Local School Districts." New Directions for Community Colleges 2000.111 (2000): 3-15. Print.
Katherine Boswell is a higher education policy consultant and project manager with the Community Leadership Program at the University of Texas.
Some quotes from this article that would support my arguement:
"... the individual with an associates degree will earn 20 to 30 percent more than the worker who only has a high school diploma."
"The worker with a bachelors degree will earn 40 percent more than the high school graduate."
"The structural shifts in the American Economy make post secondary education necessary for anyone who wants to command a living wage in today's labor market."
"Community college enrollements have increased 375 percent in a little over three decades, compared to 103 percent growth at public four year colleges and 72 percent at private four year colleges, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education."
"Rising costs are driving increasing number of students to attend lower cost-institutions."
"Over the last few years, colleges and universities across the nation have raised tuition and fees to record levels as a result of draconian cuts in state support for public higher education."
"The AA and AS degrees are designed to provide the student with mastery of basic college-level skills and an introduction to a major disciplinary field in preparation for transfer to senior colleges."
"30 percent of first-year activity is the supposedly traditional two-year to four-year college movement by students."
"Still, far too many students enroll in community colleges and do not finish their bachelors degree in a reasonalble period of time, or waste time and money - both theirs and the resources of the states and institutions - having to retake courses at four year institutions that they already took at community college."
According to Jane Wellman, "...students who initially enroll in community college will be less likely to earn a baccalaureate degree, and those who do warn their degree will take longer and need more credits to do so"
"...many students spend their limited eligibility for postsecondary financial aid on remedial courses at the community college that do not transfer to a four year institution."
"At least 27 states have now adopted various high stakes tests that secondary students must pass prior to high school graduation."..."reduce the need for remediation and improve student performance in postsecondary education."
"Community colleges have a critical role to play in providing access to the American dream."
Katherine Boswell is a higher education policy consultant and project manager with the Community Leadership Program at the University of Texas.
Some quotes from this article that would support my arguement:
"... the individual with an associates degree will earn 20 to 30 percent more than the worker who only has a high school diploma."
"The worker with a bachelors degree will earn 40 percent more than the high school graduate."
"The structural shifts in the American Economy make post secondary education necessary for anyone who wants to command a living wage in today's labor market."
"Community college enrollements have increased 375 percent in a little over three decades, compared to 103 percent growth at public four year colleges and 72 percent at private four year colleges, according to the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education."
"Rising costs are driving increasing number of students to attend lower cost-institutions."
"Over the last few years, colleges and universities across the nation have raised tuition and fees to record levels as a result of draconian cuts in state support for public higher education."
"The AA and AS degrees are designed to provide the student with mastery of basic college-level skills and an introduction to a major disciplinary field in preparation for transfer to senior colleges."
"30 percent of first-year activity is the supposedly traditional two-year to four-year college movement by students."
"Still, far too many students enroll in community colleges and do not finish their bachelors degree in a reasonalble period of time, or waste time and money - both theirs and the resources of the states and institutions - having to retake courses at four year institutions that they already took at community college."
According to Jane Wellman, "...students who initially enroll in community college will be less likely to earn a baccalaureate degree, and those who do warn their degree will take longer and need more credits to do so"
"...many students spend their limited eligibility for postsecondary financial aid on remedial courses at the community college that do not transfer to a four year institution."
"At least 27 states have now adopted various high stakes tests that secondary students must pass prior to high school graduation."..."reduce the need for remediation and improve student performance in postsecondary education."
"Community colleges have a critical role to play in providing access to the American dream."
Lit Review #3
Frankie Santos Laanan received his B.A. degree (1993) in political science, M.A. (1994) and Ph.D. (1998) degrees in higher education and organizational change from the University of California, Los Angeles. His research focuses on college access, college impact, minority students’ pathway to the baccalaureate and beyond, impact of community colleges on society and individuals.
Quotes for my paper:
Transfer Student Adjustment by Frankie Santos Laanan
"Keeley and House (2003) and Townsend (1993, 1995) have written that many students who transfer from community colleges to four year institutions have trouble adjusting to the rigorous academic standards and are often faced with numerous other challenges upon enrolling in four year institutions."
"The term transfer shock has been used to characterize the temporary dip in transfer students' academic performance ( or GPA) in the first or second semester after transferring (Hills, 1965; Nolan and Hall, 1978; Webb, 1971; Williams, 1973)."
"One out of four community college students indicated in 1989-90 that they were working toward a bachelor's degree (prospective transfers). Of this group, 39 percent transferred directly to a four-year institution by 1994.
"... transfer students should expect to suffer an appreciable drop in grades in the first semester after transfer (Hills, 1965)"
"... native students as a group are shown to perform better than the transfer students (Hills, 1965)"
"...students will most likely encounter greater difficulty than native students and can expect to take longer to graduate (Hills, 1965)."
"... both groups of transfer students (from four-year institutions and community colleges) were more likely to end up on academic probation than native students were (Graham and Dallan, 1986)"
"...transitional trauma, defined as the lebel of alienation a student experiences when unfamiliar with the norms, values, and expectations at the four year institution ( Bennett and Okinaka, 1990)"
"The size of the institution- for example, the size of the student body or its faculty - will contribute to students feelings of anonymity, sense of community, or isolation (Chickering and Reisser, 1993)
Making the Transition to the Senior Institution by Frankie Santos Laanan and Latrice E. Eggleston
"At least one out of five community college students transfer. Transfer student rates vary between 22 and 25 percent nationally among community colleges (Cohen, 1993)"
"New student orientation programs should be developed specifically to help transfer students navigate institutional structures and campus community. There is a strong need for these programs to be exclusive to tranfers."
"Because of issues of course articulation and selection, registration for transfer students is often difficult."
"... senior institutions are not meeting the needs of transfer students."
Lit Review #2
Bowen, W. G., M. M. Chingos, and M. S. McPherson. Crossing the finish line, completing college at america's public universities. Princeton Univ Pr, 2009. Print.
William G. Bowen (born October 6, 1933) is President Emeritus of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation where he served as President from 1988 to 2006. He was the president of Princeton University from 1972 to 1988. William Bowen graduated from Denison University in 1955, and Princeton University in 1958, where he earned a PhD. He joined the Princeton faculty in 1958, specializing in labor economics.
In 1988, he left Princeton and joined The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where he created a research program to investigate doctoral education, collegiate admissions, independent research libraries, and charitable nonprofits in order to ensure that the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's grants would be well-informed and more effective.
Some examples from his book:
"President Barack Obama emphazised the importance of graduatiing from college, not just enrolling." p.1
-Figure 1.3 Wage Premium of College Graduates and High School Graduates, 1915 - 2005. p.1
"... it is striking that in recent years prices at four year public institutions have risen much more rapidly than prices at private institutions" p. 150
"With net cost continuing to rise, it is not surprising that borrowing has come to play a larger role in financing college for both students and families." p.151
"...even when students understand first-year financing, they generally have little information about how they will solve their financing problems in the years to come."
"... students in North Carolina who wish to earn a bachelors degree are much more likely to do so if the begin their studies at a four year institution rather that at a two-year college." p.138
"... transfer students (especially those from two-year colleges) arrive with weaker academic credentials at least as measured by high school GPA and SAT/ACT scores." p.140
"Transfer students earned modestly lower grades than the graduates who enrolled as freshman..." p.143
(Bowen, Chingos, and McPherson )
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