Scanning through CNN News' website (see list of links on homepage) I came across an article discussing Obama's new education plan centered around community colleges and their graduates.
This plan is sparking some tension among "for profit" colleges and universities.
As a student who has a degree from University of Maryland and is currently attending Texas State University, I can attest to the benefits of attending and receiving degrees from universities. As well as a student who has take 24 credits through Austin Community College, I can attest to the benefits of attending and receiving credits through a community college.
To begin, I think community colleges are great. they provide so many opportunities to people who otherwise wouldn't have them and they make getting an education as easy as registering for classes. Anyone can go and there is no long application process. High school students can get a head-start on college, high school graduates can ease into college, and people who have not gone to school for decades can jump back in.
The ease of getting in and registering for classes is what takes away from the prestige that a profitable university has. There is no doubt that a graduate from Harvard looks better to a future employer than a graduate from a state university like the one I attend now, just like there is no doubt that a graduate from a state university looks better to a future employer than a community college graduate. The graduate of the "better" college had to work harder to get in, and presumably had to work harder to keep their grades up.
In my opinion, graduation rates from community colleges are low and that's fine. The main role of a community college to me is a stepping stone to transfer to a for profit college or continuing education later in life.
The exception to the above statement involves technical training, especially in the health-care field. Usually these programs are difficult to get into within the community college and do not accept just anybody. The student getting into, say, a nursing program at Austin Community College goes through a large amount of stress worrying about their pre-requisite grades and their admission test required by the department. There is such a large amount of applicants for so little spots that many people end up on the waitlist for at least a year.
I can attest to the respect that ACC's nursing program receives in the Austin area because I work for the Seton network of hospitals. I have been flat out told that they prefer graduates from ACC's nursing program than from a university because of the extent of the hands-on experience that the ACC nursing students receive. However, Seton wants all of their nurses to have bachelor's degrees in nursing within the next couple years, which means all these ACC graduates have to now attend an RN to BSN program. Thus the prestige associated with a four-year university degree rears it's head once again. Employers are saying they love community college graduates in health-care programs, but it is not enough. Their employees must pursue further university guided education.
So my weighing of community college and university pros and cons comes down to this:
Since employers clearly prefer for profit college graduates over community college graduates, why would Obama be convinced that he needs to put money into getting community college graduation rates up?
Community colleges do not need to graduate more students. They are playing their role beautifully, providing technical degrees, and preparing students for further education. We need to put more money into graduating students from profitable universities where employers are looking for employees.
If Obama wants to give students money to take classes community college as an incentive, I'm all for it, because I take classes at community college. However, it shouldn't be just for students planning to get their degree from that community college. It should be for anyone using community college in some way to get a degree, whether it be from there or from a different university they intend to transfer to.
This way, we are not favoring people who graduate from community college over those using community college a a step to a higher education. And, we are still promoting graduation and receiving a degree.
Click here to see the article
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