High schools may pay for college remediation

When high school graduates need remedial classes in college, who pays? Mississippi and Maine may hold school districts responsible for the costs of teaching basic skills in community colleges, notes the Hechinger Report.

In Mississippi, more than 40 percent of community college students need remediation. Fifty percent take developmental classes at Maine community colleges.

New Hampshire, Missouri, and Oregon legislators have considered similar proposals over the last five years, but bills haven’t gotten far.

“High school students, when they get a diploma . . . they ought to be able to go to college,” said Mississippi Sen. Nancy Collins, R-Tupelo. “They should not have remediation.”

Nationwide, as many as 70 percent of new community college students are placed in remedial courses, Hechinger reports.

College remediation has long been a subject of debate: It costs the states nearly $4 billion annually, and opponents say remedial courses don’t even prepare students for college level work. In Mississippi, remedial courses currently cost the same as regular classes based on credit hour, so students must foot the bill for the extra classes. Fewer than 10 percent of these students end up graduating from community colleges within three years, according to Complete College America.

These arguments have prompted more than 20 states to cut funding for remedial education. Some community colleges have started to restrict admission to students who have at least a seventh-grade proficiency level, directing them to local adult basic education classes and saving on remediation costs.

High schools and community colleges need to work together on aligning curriculum, says Kay McClenny, the director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement at the University of Texas at Austin. “Ultimately, what we need to have is not finger pointing and rock throwing across the fence of various segments of education, but really much better collaboration,” she said.

High schools are under heavy pressure to raise graduation rates. If every graduate has to be ready for college work . . . It’s not a realistic expectation. Perhaps the introduction of new, higher standards will force states to adopt a college-ready diploma and a less-rigorous diploma.

Mississippi can’t meet demand for nursing classes

Despite a statewide shortage of nurses, Mississippi’s community colleges can’t hire enough instructors to meet the demand for training, reports the Clarion Ledger.

At East Central Community College in Decatur, for example, 485 qualified applicants submitted bids for this fall’s associate’s degree class, and the school accepted 72.

Itawamba Community College received 850 applications and accepted 150, and at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, 456 applied with 156 admissions.

The problem may worsen as faculty members retire. Teaching undergraduate nursing requires a master’s degree, yet doesn’t pay much more than nurses can earn with an associate degree. Most of the state’s nurses earn two-year degrees, find jobs and see no need to complete a bachelor’s degree.

CCs cut sports teams

Desperate to balance their budgets, some community colleges are cutting sports teams, reports Inside Higher Ed. But colleges are reluctant to cut the most popular and costly sports, such as football, basketball, baseball and women’s softball.

Three Mississippi colleges are cutting at least one sport:  soccer at East Mississippi Community College; golf and tennis at Pearl River Community College; golf, tennis and track at Southwest Mississippi Community College.

“Mississippi has a very storied and prestigious position in community and junior college football, probably more so than any other state,” said (James) Southward, who was for 15 years a football coach at Mississippi Delta Community College. “Our football, basketball, baseball and women’s softball teams are very costly to operate, but they’re also the sports that bring students onto campus. It’s kind of a pay-back situation. The feeling among most of our presidents is that if they start cutting out some of these major sports, they would see a major drop in enrollment. If that happens, it’s as bad as being cut in funding.”

The state’s community colleges have adopted a shorter athletic season to save money.

In upstate New York, Erie Community College cut eight teams – men’s and women’s golf, cross-country, track and field, and indoor track — but cut costs by only $40,000 a year. Football was saved.

However, some colleges have decided football is just too expensive. North Iowa Community College dropped football to save $250,000.

Sports teams attract young students looking for a traditional college experience,  college officials believe.

Some community college teams have given athletes a shot at a scholarship to a four-year institution or a direct trip to the pros, reports Community College Times.

Nine baseball players from College of Southern Nevada were drafted this year, including 17-year-old Bryce Harper, a first-round draft pick.

Private donations fund the college’s two teams, men’s baseball and women’s softball.