The entitled student

College professors may be enabling “academic entitlement” in their students, according to research by Tracey E. Zinn, a psychology associate professor at James Madison University. Entitled students learn less because they don’t think they need to do the work, notes Inside School Research.

Signs of entitlement include the beliefs that:

• Knowledge is a “right” that should be delivered with little effort or discomfort on the student’s part;

• A high grade should come, not from mastery of material, but in return for non-academic aspects of education, such as the student showing up to class, or the student or her family paying tuition or taxes which go to the teacher’s salary; and

• If a student didn’t perform well on a test, it is a sign that the test was too difficult, not that the student did not understand the material.

Entitled students want instructors to give them the right answer, while students who don’t feel entitled ask for help understanding concepts, Zinn and her colleagues found.

Why students need remedial math

Seventy percent of community college students need remedial math because math is taught poorly in K-12 schools, charges Niki Hayes, a retired teacher and principal. An advocate of the Saxon math curriculum, Hayes is the author of John Saxon’s Story.

Without a plan, few will graduate

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up somewhere else,” advised Yogi Berra.

Community college students get lost — and drop out — unless they figure out quickly where they want to go, researchers warn.

“Many new students arrive at community colleges without clear goals for college and careers,” write Davis Jenkins and Sung-Woo Chu, researchers at the Community College Research Center of Teachers College, Columbia University. “It is essential for students to enter a program of study as soon as possible.”

A program of study could be classes leading to a vocational certificate, an  associate degree or transfer to a four-year institution.

Unfortunately, many new students have to find their way on their own.  Only 38 percent of entering community college students said an advisor helped them set academic goals and create a plan for achieving them, in the Community College Survey on Student Engagement.

Some community colleges are trying to get students on track early.

First-time-in-college students at Tallahassee Community College begin working on an Individual Learning Plan during orientation, then attend a mandatory advising workshop during the first term. Students remain in mandatory advising until they complete half their plan with a C average or better.

“Goals+Plans = Success” is the motto at Century College in Minnesota. The GPS LifePlan web site helps students set goals and develop plans for their education, careers, finance, leadership, and personal development.  In addition, GPS planning is part of the New Student Seminar and other introductory courses.

New students are more likely to enroll for a second and third semester, an independent evaluation found.  As a result, GPS is spreading to other Minnesota colleges.

California students should develop an academic plan by the end of their first year, the Community College Student Success Task Force recommends. Students with a plan would get enrollment priority, as long as they make progress. Those who fail too many classes or accumulate lots of credits without earning a degree would go to the end of the registration line and lose fee waivers.

“Policies that enable students to wander around the curriculum, withdraw and repeat classes multiple times, avoid services that could steer them along a productive pathway, and accumulate an unlimited number of units are a disservice to enrolled students and to those who can’t get into the system for lack of available classes,” the task force report said.

Students won’t get time to explore their “intellectual horizons,” wrote Jim Miller, who teaches at San Diego City College, and Jonathan McLeod, who teaches at San Diego Mesa College, in a letter to fellow instructors printed in the LaMesa Patch. “Woe to the career tech student who might venture to take a course in geography, philosophy, or fine arts!  What is the utility of radiation technology or mathematics students enrolling in political science to learn about legislative processes or the impact of free-trade agreements on the national economy and labor force demand?”

With one counselor for every 1,000 students, California’s community colleges aren’t prepared to guide students, many critics warn.

Student advising is “abysmal,” wrote Jenkins and two CCRC colleagues in the Sacramento Bee.

“Entering community college students are confronted with a bewildering array of choices and poor information about available programs, their requirements, and the career and transfer options they lead to. Left alone to navigate this daunting system, it is little wonder that many students flail about, accruing credits while coming no closer to earning a credential – or simply dropping out.”

Low-income students, often the first in their family to attend college, have the hardest time figuring out the system, they write.

California’s ever-worsening budget crisis makes it unlikely community colleges will be able to hire more advisors.

Going broke in California

California community colleges could close or require a state bail-out, if a tax measure on the November ballot fails, warns a state college budget official.

If the tax initiative fails, Gov. Jerry Brown proposes cutting $300 million from the 112-college system’s $3.7 billion budget. Schools would get $340 million from the dissolution of redevelopment agencies, but that money may come too late for this year’s budget.

“I do think some districts are going to need state assistance,” said Scott Lay, president and CEO of the Community College League of California, an advocacy group. “I don’t know how many districts would be able to survive a reduction like that and the lost redevelopment money.”

“We can’t guarantee (colleges) would have the resources to operate,” said Dan Troy, budget chief for the state college system.

The loss of more state funds would force colleges to shift their missions dramatically, said Patrick Murphy, a University of San Francisco professor who studies school finances.

Community colleges may have to cut enrollment, lay off instructors and stop offering classes at some campuses, he said, as many schools have already done.

“I do think there’s something to be said for shaking things up, but, at community colleges, we’ve done a lot of shaking up,” Murphy said. “If I were the budget officer at a community college, I would quit or go to the rubber room.”

Statewide college enrollment has dropped about 10 percent — from 2.9 million to 2.6 million — from 2008 to 2011 as would-be students have trouble finding places in community colleges and the California State University system. More California high school graduates are going out of state for a university education.

Latinos struggle to graduate

Latino students are struggling to complete community college and move on to a university, reports the Long Beach Press-Telegram. While more students are enrolling, it’s taking longer to graduate — or not.

Gerardo Raya enrolled in college in 2008 with the hopes of graduating in four years and scoring a job as an animator or illustrator.

But four years later, Raya is still at Long Beach City College struggling to finish the minimal coursework he needs to transfer to a four-year university.

The 24-year-old said he’s had trouble balancing his work as a recreational aide for a local high school while trying to study for a full load of classes. He’s had to drop classes over the years due to work conflicts and financial problems, but Raya said he’s hopeful he can transfer to Cal State Long Beach next year.

Raya is not alone. The college transfer rate for Latino students is about half that of white students — 14 percent compared with 28 percent — according to the Campaign for College Opportunity, based in California. Only 20 percent of Latino students in community college complete an associate degree or transfer after six years, compared to 37 percent of whites.

“Over half of the children in public schools are Latino, and these are the people who are going to make up our future workforce,” said Michele Siqueiros, the campaign’s executive director.

A grant from the Lumina Foundation is helping funding LBCC’s Promise Pathways Initiative, which starts in the fall. The college is working with Long Beach Unified, which is now 64 percent Latino, to “align college and high school courses, establish assessments and early interventions, and encourage more students to take transfer-level courses in math and English in their first semester,” reports the Press-Telegram. LBCC already partners with the school district and Cal State Long Beach to offer the College Promise, which includes a free first semester at LBCC.

Why do so few Latinos graduate?  Blogger Donald Douglas, a political science professor at LBCC, blames weak K-12 preparation and work habits. “Top that off with a lot of kids coming from recent immigrant families, often the first in their family to attend college (and there’s less linguistic and knowledge-based support in the home environment), and the basic foundation of learning isn’t as strong as it might be in other demographics.”

1,700 students per counselor

Overwhelmed with students and short of funding, California’s community colleges plan to give enrollment priority to students who commit to an academic plan in their first year of college and make progress toward their goals. But a state law is making it hard to hire enough counselors, reports Inside Higher Ed.

Lines at San Diego Miramar College‘s academic counseling center are often 25 students long, with wait times stretching to two hours or more. On busy days, the center begins turning students away at 3 p.m., three hours before closing time.

The counseling crush at Miramar has gotten worse because of California’s deep budget cuts, which have led to a hiring freeze and reduced hours at the center.

. . . getting more than 10 minutes of one-on-one time with an academic adviser is almost impossible at Miramar. The college is part of the San Diego Community College District, which has 1,700 students per counselor, according to district officials. Other California community colleges are similarly overwhelmed. Pasadena City College has one counselor for every 1,647 students, said Cynthia D. Olivo, associate dean for counseling and student success services at the college. Pasadena had to turn away 2,500 students who sought counseling over a recent six-month period.

California’s “50 percent law” requires community colleges to spend half of their educational budgets on instructor compensation.

When budgets are tight, which is certainly the case now, it’s nearly impossible to add counselors without adding faculty members to keep that 50/50 spending split intact, according to some community college leaders and higher education experts.

Attempts to change the law have failed in the face of faculty opposition.

Some colleges are turning to online advising tools that are available around the clock. But that may not be enough for students who can’t turn to college-educated parents for help in navigating a course catalog or deciding on a major.

Apprenticeship vs. college

Young male apprentices earn 2 percent more than community college graduates, according to Canadian researchers, reports The Globe and Mail.

The first study, by University of Toronto professors Morley Gunderson and Harry Krashinsky, found male apprentices earn 24 per cent more than those with just a high-school diploma, 15-per-cent more than those with other trades and 2-per-cent more than college graduates.

It’s a different picture for women, though. Doing an apprenticeship yields lower returns then just completing high school and “substantially” lower returns than completing community college — likely reflecting that female apprenticeships tend to be in low-wage jobs in industries like food and personal service such as hairdressing, the analysis said.

Women who apprentice in traditionally male-dominated trades see a larger earnings premium than male apprentices, the second study found.

College isn’t for everyone

It’s time to ditch college for all, writes Robert Samuelson. Enrollment has soared since the GI Bill was passed after World War II, he notes.

College became the ticket to the middle class, the be-all-and-end-all of K-12 education. If you didn’t go to college, you’d failed. Improving “access” — having more students go to college — drove public policy.

We overdid it. The obsessive faith in college has backfired.

Although college has been “dumbed down,” dropout rates are high and some graduates “aren’t learning much,” Samuelson writes. Surveys show college students are spending less time studying and doing less writing. Some 36 percent show no improvement in four years, according to the Academically Adrift study.

Worse, the college obsession is bad for high schools, Samuelson argues.

The primacy of the college-prep track marginalizes millions of students for whom it’s disconnected from “real life” and unrelated to their needs. School bores and bothers them. Teaching them is hard, because they’re not motivated. But they also make teaching the rest harder. Their disaffection and periodic disruptions drain teachers’ time and energy.

. . .  Yet, vocational education is de-emphasized and disparaged. Apprenticeship programs combining classroom and on-the-job training — programs successful in Europe — are sparse. In 2008, about 480,000 workers were apprentices, or 0.3 percent of the U.S. labor force, reports economist Robert Lerman of American University. Though not for everyone, more apprenticeships could help some students.

The rap against employment-oriented schooling is that it traps the poor and minorities in low-paying, dead-end jobs. Actually, an unrealistic expectation of college often traps them into low-paying, dead-end jobs — or no job.

Lydia Dobyns of New Tech Network agrees in One Size After High School Does Not Fit All.

While 68.3% of 2011 high school seniors enrolled in college the year they graduated, “college persistence and graduation rates are shockingly low,” Dobyns writes.

We do our high school students a great disservice by suggesting they should immediately go to a four-year college upon graduation from high school — or they’ll be sentenced to a life of unskilled labor. Without introducing relevancy, rigor and career skills into high school, the college drop-out rates will continue to be unacceptable.

. . . Students need to feel they have options — to attend a community college, to delay entering college to work, to volunteer or to travel.

The unprepared and unmotivated may end up with college debt but no degree: Nearly 30 percent of college borrowers don’t complete a degree.

More students borrow, especially at for-profits

More students are borrowing for college, especially those at four-year for-profit institutions, according to the Education Department’s The Condition of Education: 2012.

As the economy has shrunk and the cost of college has increased, financial aid has gone up as well. Between 2006-7 and 2009-10, the percentage of first-time, full-time undergraduates receiving financial aid increased from 75 percent to 85 percent at all four-year colleges.

The share of first-time, full-time students receiving aid at public four-year colleges went up by 7 percentage points over the same period, to 82 percent. Meanwhile, for-profit colleges saw the sharpest increase: Ninety-two percent of students received aid in 2009-10, up from 55 percent in 2006-7.

More community college students are borrowing, but the percentage remains low.

Community colleges remain the cheapest option by far, notes the Chronicle of Higher Education. Community college students paid $7,900 on average per year in 2010-11 compared to $20,100 for in-state public university students living on campus. Costs averaged $39,800 at private, nonprofit colleges and $30,100 at for-profit institutions.

In 2010, people ages 25 to 34 with bachelor’s degrees earned earned 50 percent more than did young adults with only a high school diploma and 22 percent more than those with associate degrees. The median income for young adults with a bachelor’s degree was $45,000, and with an associate degree, $37,000.

Virginia will let students compare the earnings of graduates at colleges and universities in the state, starting next month, notes National Journal.

People will be able to compare the starting salaries for English majors at various state universities. They also will be able to determine which degrees or certificates at a single institution yield the best wages after graduation. “Some of these findings aren’t going to make people happy,” said American Institutes for Research Vice President Mark Schneider, who is spearheading the Virginia project and cajoling several other states to follow suit. “People will find that an associate’s degree in liberal arts is not a very valuable degree.”

Of course, most students who earn an associate in liberal arts plan to go on to a bachelor’s degree. I hope Virginia gives students a way to estimate their odds of completion.

Completion by Design thinks big

Completion by Design (CbD), a Gates-funded intiative to boost low-income community college students’ graduation rates, is thinking big, reports Community College Week.  For example, one third of community college students in Texas — 289,000 in all — will be enrolled in CbD programs.

Working with the Community College Research Center, CbD colleges in Texas, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida are analyzing data on barriers to student completion, then designing solutions.

Colleges are focusing on students who start in remedial courses and students who’ve earned 30 or more credits but no credential in five years. Miami Dade College will focus on students who speak English as a second language.

Students who’ve earned 30-plus credits without a credential may be waiting for admission into a selective program, such as nursing or other allied health fields, said  Nan Poppe, CbD executive director.

“Students are doing a lot of wandering,” Poppe said, adding that when the colleges took a close look at these students’ transcripts, they found that most of them “had almost no chance of getting into one of those programs.”

“Access without success is a hollow promise,” said Poppe at an Achieving the Dream meeting. Most CdB colleges also are Achieving the Dream colleges. Students need completion-focused pathways that lead to a certificate or degree, she said.

All CbD colleges hope to redesign the entry experience for new students to help them make better choices, according to Poppe. Many propose “mandatory student success courses, individualized education plans, early selection of majors, electronic tracking, early academic warning systems, intensive advising and expansion of dual-enrollment programs.” The Lone Star College System wants to offer “success stipends” for students who complete academic milestones.

Designing a clear pathway to a meaningful credential is a challenge, writes Stacy Holliday, director of campus innovations and student success at Davidson County Community College, part of Completion by Design’s North Carolina cadre, in Community College Times.

. . . completion has to mean something. What labor market value does that credential have?  How does it translate into students successfully pursuing an advanced degree or obtaining a job?

Should we eliminate developmental courses all together, as some have suggested, or should all students complete all developmental classes before moving into their program of study?

“Instead of throwing college course catalogues at students . . . we can provide students with a roadmap that makes it clear where the program will begin and end,” Holliday writes. Students will no longer be overwhelmed by the number of course choices and will make the best choice for their future.”

The “completion agenda” has forced colleges to look at their shortcomings, noted community college leaders who spoke Monday at the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) annual meeting. But completion can’t be the primary goal, said Sandy Shugart, president of  Valencia College, reports Inside Higher Ed. “If students learn well, deeply and intentionally, more will complete,” Shugart said.