Rural Community Colleges and Federal Funds

President Obama is setting a goal for the US to have the highest percentage of college graduates in the world by 2020. It looks like that calls for annual increases of 5-6% in total numbers of degrees granted, state by state. That's quite a challenge. The Rural Community College Alliance (RCCA) and the DOE recently convened a meeting about the unique needs of rural community colleges.

Community college leaders told the audience that their needs diverge in important ways from those of suburban and urban community colleges. Though all community colleges are suffering as states nationwide tighten their budgets, rural community colleges must deal with special challenges, the college leaders said. Expenses that might seem paltry at other institutions, such as facing a bill of $55,000 to replace a computer lab, as one rural Arkansas community college is, can prove insurmountable, the college officials said. In small towns, there are few opportunities for partnerships with private businesses. Faculty members are paid less. And even when rural community colleges do obtain grants, they are often functioning at capacity, so they have nowhere to put students or equipment for new or expanded programs.

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

College Cutbacks Make it Harder to Earn Degrees

It's not just that students are having trouble getting loans or finding money to live off of while matriculating, it's that campus cut-backs have eliminated their access to the courses they need to take in order to complete their degrees:

"They will not graduate on time. I hope they will graduate at all," said David Baggins, who as chairman of political science at Cal State University-East Bay has been bombarded with requests for spots in already packed classes.

"Before," Baggins said, "there was always a way to help the student who really needed help." This year, "all I can do is say no."

Some students struggle for places in the core entry-level classes such as composition and math because the part-time instructors who typically teach those courses are the first to be laid off in tough times. Other students are shut out of crowded core courses in their majors by upperclassmen. Some upperclassmen face an even tougher road: The upper-level classes they need have been cut entirely because they aren't popular enough.

Louisiana: Tougher College Admissions Standards Boost Graduation Rates

This Times-Picayune article contains a link to a chart of graduation rates of state institutions and is somewhat focused on the State University of New Orleans' plans to increase graduation rates by having tougher entry standards, following the apparently successful process already undertaken by Louisiana State University Baton Rouge over the last decade. It briefly addresses concerns that state budget cuts will affect student support services. We also provide a link to the Louisiana State Board of Regents Planning, Research and Performance website.

Times-Picayune article:
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/tougher_college_admissions_sta.html

Louisiana State Board of Regents Planning, Research and Performance:
http://regents.state.la.us/Planning/prphome.htm

Which Colleges Actually Graduate Their Students (and Which Don't)?

A new report, titled "Diplomas and Dropouts," from the American Enterprise Institute begins:

"In the fall of 2001, nearly 1.2 million freshmen began college at a four-year institution of higher education somewhere in the United States. Nearly all of them expected to earn a bachelor’s degree. As a rule, college students do not pack their belongings into the back of a minivan in early September wondering if they will get a diploma—only when. . . . For many students, however, that confidence was misplaced. At a time when college degrees are valuable—with employers paying a premium for college graduates—fewer than 60 percent of new students graduated from four-year colleges within six years."

We have a link to a USA Today story about the report here:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-06-03-diploma-graduation-rate_N.htm

As well as a link to where you can download the full 80-page document:
http://www.aei.org/paper/100019