Challenges to the Community Colleges

As Cohen and Brawer (1996) pointed out in The American Community College, the place of the community college within the history of education is fairly recent and is a purely American development. For that reason, the community or junior college has evolved to be a much more accommodating and much less static structure then other postsecondary educational structures. In fact, studies have been done on this adaptive characteristic. One in particular found that although many administrators did not think that the mission of the community college had changed much over the last 10 years, when curriculum and extra curricular activities were compared, the reality was that the intent and mission of the community college had indeed changed (Levin, 2000). This ability to adapt to the needs of the student and the community presents the two-year college with many challenges as well as opportunities.

One of those challenges, which also offer up many opportunities, is the role of the community college in the lives of minority and/or at-risk students. Typically these students are also categorized as first-generation students, that is they are the first generation to attend a postsecondary school of some sort and these students tend to come from lower socio-economic classes, the majority of which are also of racial and ethnicity background other than White. Currently, these first-generation students make up 45% of all undergraduates, 55% of whi

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ngaging in a learning experience (McConnell, 2000). Those who do go on to four-year universities still go through the transfer "slump" that occurs in a student's grades after they transfer, and some are never able to truly cope with the four-year university (Cohen & Brawer, 1996). Nonetheless, despite these issues, the numbers of students attending all postsecondary institutions has markedly increased over the last 20 years (Cohen & Brawer, 1996). Further, many of these are disadvantaged or first-generation students and these students are taking advantage of the low-cost and open enrollment offered by community colleges to further their education in greater numbers. This places community colleges in a unique position to create programs, curriculum, and teaching practices that will enhance the experience of these students and increase their probability of not only finishing their two-year degree, but also of continuing on with their education. As Steinberg points out, school is the method this society chooses to train students to survive in the adult world. Therefore, the more engaged they become in their own learning and interacting in the classroom, the better prepared they will be to negotiate their lives outside the classr
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Approximate Word count = 1892
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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