EE.UU.:Community colleges open the door to selective universities

North America/United States/27-10-2019/Author(a) and Source: theconversation.com

When it comes to getting into a selective university, high school GPA and test scores typically play the most important role.

But in a recent study, we show another way to attend a selective university: transfer from a community college.

This alternative option is important for students who are minority, low-income, and underprepared academically for higher education. Students from these particular groups are less likely to gain admission and enroll at a selective university.

As researchers who specialize in the study of higher education, we know that going to a selective university often gives students a competitive advantage on the job market.

Students who didn’t attend selective universities – especially racial minorities – face disadvantages when they compete for jobs with students who do. For instance, students who graduate from a highly selective university get more responses from employers when they’re on the job market – which could be due to the perception that students at prestigious universities receive a better education than students at other institutions.

A way in

Our study included 7,110 college students nationwide. We found that students who transferred from a community college were 24% more likely to attend a selective university than students with similar background characteristics who began at a four-year institution. In general, selective universities admit students based on criteria related to past academic performance and test scores. Selective universities differ from open-admission institutions, which admit nearly anyone who applies.

The students in our study who transferred from a community college to a four-year university were more likely to be minority, low-income, and academically underprepared students with low high school GPAs.

Based on the academic characteristics of these students, starting at a selective university out of high school was likely not an option. But community colleges can open the door to selective universities.

Our study accounted for differences in students’ race, family income, academic preparation and other characteristics. We don’t know, however, whether certain types of students, such as immigrants, were more likely to transfer from a community college to a selective university.

Practical benefits

There are practical reasons to begin at a community college that can help to explain our findings. For instance, students who start at a community college can save money due to the low price of community college courses. For price-conscious students who may have been wavering on the decision to pursue a bachelor’s degree at a university with high tuition, community college offers a chance to make progress toward their degree at a low price.

Community colleges also offer more remedial course options than four-year universities. Remedial courses can benefit students who are not prepared for college-level work.

Students who transfer from a community college may be more likely to get into a selective university due to factors beyond their own academic development in college. Simply put, high school grades and SAT scores are less important for transfer students than students who are seeking admission directly out of high school.

While starting at a community college might be a good way to make college more affordable or help students develop their academic skills, it doesn’t always lead to a positive outcome.

Students who transfer from a community college to a four-year institution are 37% less likely to earn their bachelor’s degree than students who start at a four-year university. And when they do complete their bachelor’s degree, it takes them about three months longer to graduate.

Career consequences

Students who transfer from a community college to a four-year university may experience a wage penalty as they begin their career. One reason these students might earn less early in their career is that community college credits don’t always transfer to a four-year university. This loss of credits leads to a delayed entry into the workforce. Meanwhile, their peers have a head start to become eligible for promotions and raises.

Community college students don’t have to lose credits when they transfer to a four-year university. All states could implement “articulation agreements” to ensure that community college credits are accepted at four-year universities.

Only 30 states have articulation agreements that guarantee the transfer of core community college credits and the associate degree upon enrolling at a state university.

Articulation agreements are a common-sense measure that would allow transfer students to avoid unnecessary hurdles and graduate sooner.

Community colleges educate 55% of low-income college students in the United States. Only a small portion of these students transfer to a selective four-year university.

But the small share of low-income students at selective universities would likely be even smaller without the community college pathway.

Source and Image: https://theconversation.com/community-colleges-open-the-door-to-selective-universities-122978

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Jamaica: Community Colleges Providing Access to Affordable Tertiary Education

Jamaica/  July 4, 2017/By Judith Hunter/Source: http://jis.gov.jm

With a student population of between 10,000 and 12,000 in any given year, Jamaica’s community colleges have become a game changer in tertiary landscape.

In 1974, they were established to accommodate students pursuing sixth form studies.

Forty-three years later, the system has transformed into one of the most affordable, flexible and accessible means to tertiary education, offering to Jamaicans a variety of programmes ranging from continuing education, short courses, postgraduate diplomas, Associate and Bachelor’s degree.

Executive Director of the Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica (CCCJ), Dr. Donna Powell Wilson, tells JIS News that the programmes offered by the community colleges are some of the most affordable in the country. “We are not cheap but very affordable.

The cost to pursue a two-year Associate Degree is close to what a student will pay for one year of studies at a local university,” she says. She points out that community colleges have forged partnerships with local, regional and international institutions, to offer programmes to meet the educational needs of Jamaicans.

Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) have been established with institutions such as Jamaica Theological Seminary, University of Technology, University of the West Indies and Monroe College in the United States.

Dr. Powell Wilson says that under the MOU with Monroe College, credits can be transferred to pursue a Bachelor’s degree, which means community colleges graduates will not have to redo the programmes, when they enrol in these institutions.

“We form associations with other institutions, so that our students are not at a disadvantage if they want to further their studies,” she says.

The local community colleges have also extended their offerings through franchising regionally to Anguilla, the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas Baptist Community College.

Dr. Powell Wilson points out that in response to the emerging needs of the local economy, the CCCJ has just completed the development of a logistics supply chain management programme in collaboration with the Niagara College and the Marine University of Newfoundland, Canada.

This, she says, is sponsored by the CARICOM Education for Employment Programme.

She adds that the CCCJ is working on developing a partnership with Hocking College in the United States so as to offer different types of programmes to students.

Meanwhile, Principal of Knox Community College and President of the Association of Principals and Vice Principals of Community Colleges, Dr. Gordon Cowans, says that one of the challenges is informing persons that tertiary education is accessible to every Jamaican.

“Tertiary education is in the reach of all Jamaicans irrespective of your age or academic performance. We have coverage for the island, we have programmes to meet each and every Jamaican who want to better their professional or academic experience. The CCCJ is responding to today’s challenges creating tomorrow’s opportunities,” he says.

Meanwhile, Principal of Excelsior Community College in Kingston and Chair of the Curriculum Development Committee in the CCCJ, Philmore McCarthy, tells JIS News that in an effort to strategically coordinate the work of the community colleges, the CCCJ was established in 2001 through an Act in Parliament.

Mr. McCarthy says that the main functions of the Council are to draft regulations to govern operations; standardise the offerings; and ensure that the community colleges maintain quality standards.

“They also work with the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ) and use their standards to develop programme, hence majority of our programmes are accredited,” he points out.

The CCCJ members are made up of representatives from community colleges, other local tertiary institutions, the private sector and HEART Trust/NTA.

The community college system boasts a two plus two model and according to Mr. McCarthy, under this model, a student has the opportunity for the first two years to pursue an Associate Degree and the other two years to gain a Bachelor’s Degree.

“We are geared towards preparing our students for the workplace and for industries, as well as persons who want to go on to further studies. You find that a person will come in and do two years, go back to work and then they would come back to complete another two years for their Bachelor’s Degree,” he explains . Students have access to programmes in areas such as engineering, technology, business, hospitality and tourism management, agriculture, education (trainers of primary school teachers), humanities – criminal justice, social work, logistics, business process outsourcing and management.

To pursue an Associate Degree, individuals are required to have five Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects, inclusive of Mathematics and English or its equivalent. For a Bachelor’s Degree, an Associate Degree from an accredited programme is required.

There are eight community colleges in Jamaica in 25 different locations across the island. They are the Bethlehem Moravian College, Moneague College, the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE), Excelsior Community College, Montego Bay Community College, Brown’s Town Community College, Portmore Community College and Knox Community College.

Source:

Community Colleges Providing Access to Affordable Tertiary Education

 

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EE.UU: Un hispano dirigirá el sistema de educación superior más grande del país

Radio HRN/19 de julio de 2016/Por: Silma Estrada

Se trata de Eloy Ortiz Oakley, quien este lunes fue elegido de manera unánime por los miembros de la Junta de Gobierno de Colegios Comunitarios de California.

Un hispano ha sido nombrado rector de los ‘community colleges’ o colegios comunitarios de California, el sistema de educación pública superior más grande del país con 113 planteles a los que atienden 2.1 millones de estudiantes.

Se trata de Eloy Ortiz Oakley, quien este lunes fue elegido de manera unánime por los miembros de la Junta de Gobierno de Colegios Comunitarios de California.

Actualmente Ortiz Oakley es superintendente del Colegio Comunitario de Long Beach y asumirá el nuevo cargo a partir del 19 de diciembre.

A pesar de que ir al colegio no era una prioridad en el hogar de clase media en el que creció, Ortiz Oakley considera que gracias al sistema de colegios comunitarios pudo iniciar su formación académica.

“Como oriundo de California y un producto de un colegio comunitario, me siento honrado por la oportunidad de encabezar el sistema de educación superior más grande y diverso de la nación”, declaró Ortiz Oakley, quien se convierte en el primer hispano en ocupar el cargo.

Ortiz Oakley es reconocido por haber implementado en Long Beach el programa Promesa de Colegio para vincular a los estudiantes que están por salir de high school con instructores y administradores de colegios comunitarios para encaminarlos a una carrera profesional.

El programa de Ortiz Oakley, que garantiza un año de matrícula gratuita para los estudiantes de recién ingreso al establecer una sociedad con empresarios locales, fue retomado en 2015 por la administración del presidente Barack Obama al crear la iniciativa America´s College Promise.

Tomado de: http://radiohrn.hn/l/noticias/un-hispano-dirigir%C3%A1-el-sistema-de-educaci%C3%B3n-superior-m%C3%A1s-grande-del-pa%C3%ADs

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