As states slash funding for education
and other services in the face of shrinking budgets, the question is not how
to find students, but how to help them
once enrolled.
“Instead of being concerned about
where community colleges are going
to find students, I think the bigger
challenge now is, what are community
colleges going to do with the large number of students who are seeking their
services in times of shrinking budgets?”
says Linda Hagedorn, director of the
Research Institute for Studies in Higher
Education at Iowa State University.
Between academic years 2000–01
and 2005–06, the Brookings Institution,
a Washington, D.C.–based public policy
group, reports that an additional 2. 3
million students enrolled in community
THE CHALLENGE OF NURTURING STUDENTS
UNTIL THEY MEET THEIR ACADEMIC GOALS
It’s no secret that the down economy is fueling a historic boom in community college enrollments. But what many perceive as a potentially good problem to have also is creating its share of challenges for administrators.
BY COREY MURRAY
colleges, with tuition increases at some
institutions eclipsing 40 percent. Across
the country, a prolonged economic recession continues to drive those numbers
higher still. The American Association of
Community Colleges reported that from
2007–09, enrollments were up close to
17 percent. (For more, visit: http://www.
aacc.nche.edu/newsevents/News/articles
/Documents/ccenrollmentsurge2009.pdf.)
But just because more students are enrolling in courses and training programs
at their local community colleges does
not mean their academic goals are being
met. “Retention is certainly a big issue. As
budgets decline, classroom sizes may increase and important services to students
are being curtailed,” explains Hagedorn.
A former community college instructor and administrator, Hagedorn has
spent much of her professional life
examining the challenges community
colleges face. Though retention presents
