Community College Challenges

Challenges in Community Colleges Written Assignment In today’s modern society, community colleges are facing many challenges and obstacles such as college readiness, remedial education and trying to keep up with new and improve technologies as fast as they are developing into the next trend. However, the two core challenges facing community colleges are budget constraints and trying to find the right incentives and support to keep students in school until they successfully achieve their degree and graduate. The main focus in this challenge is that remedial students who are struggling at the beginning of their academic career, have a tendency to give up and drop out of college before finishing their degree program or certification. “The …show more content…
“Enrollment is booming in community colleges as laid-off, middle-age professionals who are changing careers rub elbows with first-generation students in their late teens” (Bowler, 2009). The reason for this is because workers have been laid off from their jobs because some of them do not have the degree, knowledge or skills that the most companies are looking for, therefore, most of them decide to return to school to improve their job prospects. Even though it is good see workers and high school students continue their education at a community college, the budget is not enough to cover certain courses and programs that are needed to help students to continue their educational skills. According to the article Reclaiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation's Future. (2012), “Community colleges, historically underfunded, also have been financed in ways that encourage enrollment growth, though frequently without adequately supporting that growth, and largely without incentives for promoting student success; these conditions hinder middle-class students and have a devastating effect on low-income …show more content…
“Although indicators can be inherently problematic for two-year colleges, they may be also used by community colleges as a new mode of generating money during financially difficult times, to clarify the mission statements, community colleges can utilize state-mandated performance indicators to generate extra funding during fiscally difficult periods” (Zarekesh & Beas, 2004). When there has been huge budget cuts from programs use to help unprepared student to succeed in their classes and tuition fees are constantly rising, more than likely, low income and middle class students will drop out of school. Students who are attending community colleges find it very difficult to pay for college, even though tuition fees are lower than a four-year university. Numerous amount of students attending community colleges are depending on student-based assistance to help them gain admission to college and to succeed as well. Because budgets has decreased in the community colleges, students who apply for financial aid are finding it really difficult to get access to the amount of financial aid that they need to cover their classes and tuition. A lot of companies rely on community colleges to provide them with skilled workers and it is up to the government to make sure that sufficient amount of funds are distributed to the community colleges so that every student can have the

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