Straight Talk from Al Jacobs

 

FUNDING THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

 

UC Berkeley Professor David Kirp’s article “Can community colleges deliver on diplomas?” is statistically well documented. As a senior scholar at the Learning Policy Institute, he appears to be intimately familiar with how the state’s 114 community colleges receive their funding. In the past, enrollment dictated the dollars which flowed, but starting this year, nearly half will be dependent upon “whether the institution improves student outcome and how well it serves poor students.” Translated, this means a larger portion of students must attend full-time, receive associate arts degrees and transfer to 4-year institutions, so to qualify for needs-based federal financial aid.

 

I fully understand why the colleges require an infusion of cash. The state of California is awash in unfunded financial obligations as it continues to spend with abandon. I question, however, whether the typical community college student will be well served by this emphasis on an associate arts degree. I recall, a number of years ago, enrolling in several courses – poetry, short stories and creative writing. I had a particular purpose and the courses served me well. To have been coerced into a more extensive course of study to meet some preordained definition of student improvement would have been senseless. A gateway to a four-year course of study is not the only reason the community college exists. Its purpose for many students is to provide specific instruction as each needs for any variety of reasons.

 

Professor Kirp then mentions that because of a test given to each new student, 80% are consigned to remedial math, with many then “dropping out before they get a crack at classes that lead to a degree.” In addition, as he points out, students must be enrolled in college-credit classes. He adds “Many students are clueless about what courses they need to graduate … fewer than half will pass the math course. Discouraged by the lack of progress, they leave.”

 

I’m convinced these new rules being instituted – quite clearly for the purpose of meeting federal requirements for ever more money – is transforming the community college into an institution which no longer meets the needs of many Californians seeking supplemental schooling.  It’s painfully obvious that in the world of the professional educator, dollars allocated to an instructional process invariably take precedence over any educational purpose.

 

 

Al Jacobs, a professional investor for nearly a half-

century, issues weekly financial articles in which he

shares his financial knowledge and experience.

You may view them on http://www.roadwaytoprosperity.com