Social Role of the American Community College Today (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Valuable Role of Community Colleges in the United States
The paper includes the important role of the community college for low-income students or students not prepared for a 4-year college or universities. The community college programs include an opportunity for students to complete core college courses transferable to 4-year colleges or universities. The community college across the United States are now experiencing a shift to vocational education, job training to prepare students for the work force immediately which students are not likely to obtain in high school. The leaders in the public school systems close schools and many vocational programs because of funding issues. The dual enrollment program is another advantage of community colleges with opportunity for a high school student to improve the chances of being accepted into a 4-year college or university. The results of the dual enrollment programs may give the student a sufficient amount of college credits that may give students a fast track into a 4- year institution.
Functions, Organization, and Contemporary Challenges of the American Community College
Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, 2017
In the United States, the community colleges are the primary vehicle for ensuring access to higher education for all students, including those not yet prepared for college-level work, those hoping to transfer to a university, and those seeking training for an occupation. This chapter provides an overview of the primary functions, organization, and contemporary challenges of the American Community College. It begins by describing the students who attend these institutions, as well as the faculty who teach in them. It then provides an overview of the organization and management of community colleges, the provision of student support services, and the major issues involving finances and financing. The chapter turns then to the major curricular functions, discussing in turn how US Community Colleges engage in liberal arts and transfer education, occupational training, developmental education, and community and lifelong learning. Finally, the chapter presents a discussion of the current climate of accountability and describes the ways in which US community colleges track and report student progress and outcomes. Within each of these sections, the authors note the major challenges community colleges face, as well as possible directions for the future.
The Community College in the American Educational System
1984
An an ralysis presented resented of the positipn of American. / community colleges in the nation's educational system.,First, , .0 . background is presented on the historTcal development of the community college; forces contributing to the ride of higher education'and-.the,emergence of junior colleges; and the expansion o the role of two-year colleges o include community services and remedial education in additiOn to'transfer, occupPtional, and 4 postsecondary,te'rmimal program . This section, also analyzes forces affecting comm ity-college growth over the past tour decades, -'inbluding increased-educatiOnal access, the sOdent consumerism Y/ movement, the increasing 'en rollment of part-time students, and the absOrption b community colleges of the-educational functions' of 'other agenci, es. The next section looks at community providing .information ,on their educational background and professional involvement in contrast to their four-year college counterpapts, the faculty union movemenlj_and factors such as long working, hours and underprepared stmdints whicherode faculty job satisfacion. Curriculum-and instruction in the community colldge are _discussed next, with particular focUs on transfer, occupational, and community service curricula. The per examines the dilemma faced by college leaders attempting t mai tain their 'institution's place in graded edpcation, while provi ing a variety of edutative services to their/conbtituents on an open-doo basis. A number of tables conclude the paper; (LAL) '' 4 41' / 6S /
EJBSS-1329-14-REDEFINING THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
he mission of community colleges in the United States is increasing in size and complexity. Among its potential roles or purposes are the first two years of a bachelor's degree, workforce training, remedial or developmental education, continuing education, community development, and community center. Some community colleges have begun to offer four-year degrees to meet local demand. At the same time administrators experience the internal and external competition for resources to meet these various demands. Long-term sustainability of this format creates concern and this article proposes the refocus of community college missions. Suggestions involve a reemphasis on vocational education, a reconsideration of open admissions, and a modification of the concept of community through expanded distance education access.
The American community college
1982
This monograph provides a comprehensive overview of community college education in the United States. Chapter I reviews the social forces that contributed to the development and expansion of community colleges and the continuing changes in institutional purposes. The ^'-anging'patterns of community college student characteristi; avt the focus of Chapter II. Chapter III examines the faculty-related issues of full-and part-time staff, tenure, salary, workload, modes of faculty evaluation, professional associations, and teacher preparation. After Chapter IV explores changes in college administration with respect to institutional size, collective bargaining, available funds, and locus of control, Chapter V describes the various funding patterns used to finance community :olleges. Instruction is considered in Chapter VI with focus on learning resource centers and the stability of instructional methods which has been maintained in spite of the introduction of new technologies. Chapter VIE explores student services and personnel functions. Chapters VIII, IX, and X consider the positions of career, compensatory, and adult education in the community college curriculum. Chapter XI looks at the rise and fall of liberal arts education in the curriculum. Chapter XII traces the development of general education curricula, and Chapter XIII examines the social role of the community college. An '
A Whole 'Nother World Students Navigating Community College
2000
Each year thousands of young people begin their college careers in community colleges. The lower cost, more convenient location, and flexible admissions standards of community colleges make them an attractive educational alternative for many students, especially those from lowincome and disadvantaged backgrounds. Yet, persistence toward degrees among community college students is low. Family responsibilities, poor academic performance, and weak ties to faculty and other students get in the way of students' educational aspirations.
Education Commission of the States, 2008
Is it a path to opportunity? In his remarks before the graduating class at Harvard University this spring, Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Ben Bernanke said the primary vehicle for decreasing income inequality and increasing the productivity of America's workers is to provide greater access and success in postsecondary education. While he was talking to the nation's best and brightest at one of its most prestigious institutions, he made the case that community colleges will play a central role in accomplishing this goal. 1 A recent report from the College Board's National Commission on Community Colleges makes the case that community colleges are overburdened and underappreciated at a time when their mission to provide greater access to postsecondary education for underserved populations and respond to community needs is more important than ever. 2 According to the report, 46% of all undergraduates in the United States attend community colleges, including 47% of African American undergraduates, 47% of Asian American undergraduates, 55% of Hispanic undergraduates and 57% of American Indian undergraduates. What's Inside Are community colleges a good route to a bachelor's degree? Which students succeed at community colleges? Strategies that promote community college success
A typology of students' use of the community college
New Directions for Institutional Research, 2011
Owing to the multifaceted nature of their mission, community colleges draw students of extraordinarily diverse backgrounds, with widely varying levels of academic preparation, pursuing a range of academic objectives from a baccalaureate degree (by upward transfer to a four-year institution) to personal enrichment, and everything in between (
Community Colleges: Multiple Missions, Diverse Student Bodies, and a Range of Policy Solutions
2016
The national commitment to increasing postsecondary educational attainment, combined with growing economic anxiety, has made community colleges the focus of many federal and state policy initiatives. There is good reason for this: by virtue of their nature and reach, community colleges—public institutions of higher education that predominantly award associate degrees and sometimes bachelor’s degrees—are indispensable to meeting national goals for educational attainment as well as for the development of a productive workforce. But no national system of community colleges exists, and national policies to improve opportunity and success at community colleges should reflect their diversity of students, programs, missions, and funding structures.