Students Attending Community Colleges Research Articles

The Rural Bellwether

SCHOOLS IN rural America face an array of problems every bit as daunting and intractable as those confronting schools in urban communities. In rural communities, graduating students who see no future locally leave town, and a snowball effect begins. These young people are no longer there to start families, to send their children to school, to buy toothpaste from the local druggist, or to buy houses from the local realtor. A brain drain leaves fewer high-quality workers to attract high-quality jobs. Fewer high-quality jobs mean even fewer opportunities for the next generation of students, who will find themselves forced by economic necessity to leave the community. In fact, in 22 states more than half of all rural schools lost students between the 1994-95 and 1997-98 school years, according to the newsletter Rural Policy Matters. Those states with the highest percentages of enrollment loss were Louisiana, Idaho, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming. States with large rural populations have begun to face these and other problems of rural schooling directly. The State Role In Iowa, 262 of 374 school districts (70%) experienced enrollment declines between 1999 and 2000, and the percentage decline has been largest in districts enrolling fewer than 1,000 students. No wonder Iowa Gov. Thomas Vilsack says his priority is to offer Iowans new opportunities, including better schools, a preventive health-care system, a cleaner environment, a rejuvenated economy, safer communities, and a more accountable state government. Gov. Vilsack has said that, if Iowa doesn't grow during the next 10 years, businesses won't have the personnel they need to prosper. He recently unveiled details of his plan to create more high-wage jobs in Iowa, saying the state should focus its economic development programs on three areas: advanced manufacturing, information solutions, and life sciences. The governor has proposed spending $4.5 million for this effort. Last spring's H.B. 2433 stipulated that a statewide strategic plan be written at least once every five years for Iowa's community colleges. A broad-based working group, with members appointed by the governor, the legislature, and a number of other stakeholder groups, has been established. Also in Iowa, the Accelerated Career Education Grant Program, part of the Accelerated Career Education and Job Training Act, recognizes that community colleges are the postsecondary institutions most likely to be located in rural areas and to provide the technical training needed by surrounding communities. The program provides grant funds to students attending community colleges. Meanwhile, legislators in Nebraska passed the Education and Career Preparation Act, which acknowledges that technology is changing the educational and training needs of employees. These changes are directly related to Nebraska's economic competitiveness. Indeed, state leaders believe that education and career preparation have become critical for the state because students must possess the academic, communication, and technological skills they need for employment and lifelong learning. The act is designed to help students: * acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to enter a career preparation program at a postsecondary institution or to enter employment directly; * develop skills to balance the dimensions of work, family, and community; * gain exposure to a wide variety of careers; and * gain experience in career paths through supervised work-based experience. Attracting Personnel To Rural Schools Rural communities face special problems in attracting staff members for rural schools. For example, a community looking for a teacher might not have a job suitable for the teacher's spouse, and newly hired teachers accustomed to the convenience of multiple movie theaters and major malls sometimes find it hard to adjust to the extremely limited choices of a rural community. …

Bachelor's Degree Students Attending Community Colleges: A Look at Postbaccalaureate Reverse Transfers in Missouri

AbstractThis chapter details the results of a study of postbaccalaureate reverse transfers attending community colleges in Missouri.

Sexual behavior and AIDS-related knowledge among community college students in Orange County, California.

Whereas college students are not identified as a high-risk group for acquiring the HIV infection, they exhibit high-risk behaviors consistent with their age group, including multiple sexual partners and high rates of unprotected intercourse. This study was conducted to determine levels of HIV-related sexual behavior, along with knowledge and attitudes among students attending community colleges in a relatively affluent multiethnic community. This study used a random sample survey (N = 319) of students attending selected classes at four community colleges in Orange County, California, to assess HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes, and patterns of past and present sexual behavior. The level of student knowledge concerning HIV disease was found to be relatively high, and pronounced differences in knowledge and sexual permissiveness were identified as a function of ethnicity and religion, with Asians showing lower knowledge and lower concern about HIV, and religion/religiosity related to these variables and also to levels of sexual permissiveness. Respondents' comfort in asking a partner about his/her sexual history was positively associated with their level of self-esteem, and negatively related to peer pressure in this population. As in previous studies of college populations, HIV knowledge per se does not confer a protective effect against high-risk behavior. However, knowledge was found to be an enabling factor with regard to students' comfort levels in asking about their partner's sexual histories, and in requesting that partners take an AIDS test.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF REVERSE TRANSFER, LATERAL TRANSFER, AND FIRST‐TIME COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS

Among the “new” students attending community colleges are a large number of reserve and lateral transfers, students with previous college experience. This study was conducted to provide information on their characteristics and their reasons for attending and leaving colleges as compared to the first‐time college study. A sample of 10,196 students in the Los Rios Community College District (California) was studied and five student groups were identified: First Time Students (FTS), 54.7 percent; Noncompleter Lateral Transfers (NCLT), 19.2 percent; Completer Lateral Transfers (CLT), 7.5 percent; Noncompleter Reverse Transfers (NCRT), 12 percent; Completer Reverse Transfers (CRT), 7.6 percent. The CRT and FTS groups differed most significantly. The CRT were older, more often married with children, worked more hours, and were taking fewer units. In general, the characteristics of the other three groups were similar and at a mid‐point between the CRT and FTS. Factor analysis of the reasons for attending showed ...

PERSISTENCE PATTERNS OF NONCURRICULAR STUDENTS IN COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Limited information is available concerning enrollment patterns of students who do not enroll in a curriculum during their first quarter of attendance at community colleges. This study of a large number (20,031) of noncurricu‐lar students attending community colleges in Virginia was designed to determine the relationships between the persistence rates of these students over a three‐year period and other selected variables. The analysis revealed a statistically significant interaction effect in which race, sex, full‐time or part‐time attendance, and the final curriculum of a student are related to persistence. Further, individual variable effects indicate the importance of the job market on the curricular choices and attendance patterns of the noncurricular community college student.