![]() ![]() The Community College DisadvantageĬommunity colleges have been a staple of access for a substantial proportion of the U.S. If not served properly, these students become the new forgotten half-the half of college students who accumulate credits, but end up with no degree or credential, and few marketable skills (Rosenbaum et al. As the data show, many students who enter the community college system are likely to get trapped in remedial classes and eventually drop out without transferring or completing any degree or certificate. But despite high enrollment, community colleges have notoriously low completion rates. 2018).īecause of low tuition, convenient locations, and open admissions, community colleges enroll a high proportion of under- graduates who are marginalized by the educational system. Furthermore, students in the underserved group are overrepresented in community colleges and, more specifically, in certificate programs and remedial or developmental classes (Bittinger et al. The underserved students, by contrast, are not prepared academically for college and are also not enrolled in any career curriculum or program.Īs Table 1 reveals, this underserved group is composed of mostly low-income students and students of color. Vocational students are prepared for the labor force through their involvement in either high school or postsecondary career and technical education programs. Students in the academic category are exposed to a rigorous college preparatory curriculum and are well-prepared for success in college and rewarding occupations. ![]() However, Deil-Amen and DeLuca (2010) suggest that students are actually divided across three categories: academic, vocational, and underserved. Traditionally, secondary and postsecondary students are thought of as being placed on either an academic or vocational track. ![]() Deil-Amen and DeLuca (2010) define the underserved half as “an underclass of students who are neither college ready nor in an identifiable career curriculum” (28). Examining recent national data, scholars found that community colleges, in addition to enrolling many adults who return to school, now serve the underserved half of high school students (Bittinger et al. However, it is also vital to acknowledge that many of these students have not been served adequately by the educational sys- tem prior to their enrollment in community college (Deil-Amen and DeLuca 2010). ![]() Most notably, the majority of today’s students are beginning or continuing their postsecondary education in our nation’s community colleges (Deil-Amen 2015), which offer a critical point of access to first-time college-goers and students moving up the socioeconomic ladder and out of poverty (Goldrick-Rab, Richardson, and Hernandez 2017). Approximately half are low-income and financially independent from their parents, and a third are students of color (Deil-Amen 2015 Ma and Baum 2016). Rather, many of today’s college students are beyond the age of 24, employed at least part time, and raising a family. The typical college student is no longer the image many of us hold in our heads-an 18- to 22-year-old who leaves his or her parents’ home for the first time, ready to begin the journey at an ivy-walled four-year college or university. By Cecilia Rios-Aguilar and Regina Deil-Amen Who Are the Students Community Colleges Serve? ![]()
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