Posted on 02/05/2015 6:47:14 AM PST by GodAndCountryFirst
President Obama wants to make community college free to all. But we already have way too many unqualified people going to community colleges. Did you know that the number of students who successfully graduate from publicly-funded community college is only 20%? And that figure is for students who take up to 3 years… to complete a 2 year program!
Put another way, 80% of students who go into community college don’t graduate in a reasonable period of time. And community colleges are heavily subsidized by the taxpayer. Why should we subsidize schools where 4 out of 5 students drop out? That’s an incredible waste of money!
Furthermore, what is actually taught at community colleges? For many students, it is basic reading and writing. There is a place to see how Spot runs. It is called grade school. It is called high school. It is not called college. If students can’t learn how to read and write in 12 years of schooling, they are unlikely to be successful in another two… which explains the high dropout rate. Why should taxpayers pay to try to teach basic skills at the college level?
(Excerpt) Read more at westernjournalism.com ...
Community colleges are a local issue. Block federal money and call it good.
Oh, I dunno about elimination. It’s nice to have a community college offer extension/enrichment courses in beginning programming, conversational Spanish or Italian, home plumbing, master gardening, beginning landscaping, etc. But, as real post-HS education centers for career building, I agree that is complete fantasy.
I teach at a community college, and allow me to say that the remediation classes do provide a must-pass class in contrast to the social promotion they got in HS.
Encouraging people to borrow money to get 4-year degrees in Women's Studies is just not helping anyone.
Community colleges usually = remedial HS
The ONGOING taxpayer burden for people who WILL NOT/CANNOT learn-in ANY environment and no matter when/how the education is presented!
The didn’t GET IT when it was free in High School, what makes anyone think they’ll GET IT in Community Colleges?
In obscure data tables buried deep in its 2016 budget proposal, the Obama administration revealed this week that its student loan program had a $21.8 billion shortfall last year, apparently the largest ever recorded for any government credit program.
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/02/05/obamas-student-loan-program-22-billion-in-the-hole-for-fy2015/
Community colleges should be renamed so as to more accurately describe what they really are: “Re-High School”.
The fact that they exist at all is ample proof of the total failure of our public education system.
I do not mean to demean those who go there or those who teach there.
I do mean to demean, insult, throw rocks at, and f*rt in the general direction of the idiots who have dumbed down (e.g., liberalized) our high schools to the point where formerly eighth-grade material has to be taught on the post high school level.
The problem is that they’re trying to turn community colleges into 4 year universities with all the BS that comes with them.
They used to be the place where you earned certifications in things like welding, building trades, automotive technologies etc.
I heard on the radio, might have been Dana Loesch, that more than 7 out of 10 students entering Community Colleges require remedial courses in at least one subject.
Everything the government invest in we see in increase in cost and a decrease in quality. But hey, I’m sure Obama is the socialist that can get it right this time.
The didn’t GET IT when it was free in High School, what makes anyone think they’ll GET IT in Community Colleges?
And if the colleges get paid for having them there they will never fail because to do so would deplete the governments hand out. Its a payoff to the unions and a further nail in the coffin of meaningful education in the USA.
The fact they have matured by a year or two, don't have the blandishments of high school social life to distract them, or the distraction of classmates who cannot be disciplined because high schools don't seem to be able to enforce discipline any more, while community colleges can expel disruptive students, and are looking at unemployment.
Community colleges are the local governments business.
There is also a core of people who have a bone deep sense of entitlement who feel that they don't have to DO anything to get paid. I wonder who much the two groups overlap.
I agree. I wonder if the article counted those folks who took a gardening class as part of the 80% who did not graduate with a degree.
as real post-HS education centers for career building, I agree that is complete fantasy
I respectfully disagree. An intro chemistry class at a community college is probably better than one offered at a university. Classes sizes are smaller at the community college, and the professors there care about teaching, not about research.
If someone is a serious student, a community college is a great place to get the basics out of the way, cheaply.
Incredibly stupid idea
While I certainly could read well, my Algebra skills were non-existent. Chemistry was weak.
Starting at 20 I attended a local community college while working full time. Could only take one class at a time, which is not uncommon for the community college crowd.
I never graduated community college. Why? Because after earning 40ish credits I was able to enroll at a major University, transferring all of my CC credits and finished on time. I have since earned advanced degrees and had a successful 27 year career in the military as an officer.
None of this would have been possible without community college. FWIW, the Tech system in SC, which fills the roll of both College level work and technical training, is a tremendous recruiting tool for industry. When recruiting new industries the Tech schools come along side and work with the new companies to train up workers with needed skills, and are later hired into good paying jobs.
My tuition at the CC was 100% scholarship, so I just had to come up with books, and room & board vs. about $3,000 per semester out of pocket at the major university. (It's been a while.)
“I teach at a community college, and allow me to say that the remediation classes do provide a must-pass class in contrast to the social promotion they got in HS.”
So that’s great! You are there to “ finish” the education our children were supposed to get in high school! Just fixing a former failure, that’s the ticket, and all on the taxpayers dime. Junior College today is just another social outlet for children unprepared and/or unwilling to become adults.
They may be a year or two older, but mature? I doubt it. If they were truly mature, then they would PAY THEIR OWN WAY to get the benefits of edjumacation. But we can't have that can we? Personally I agree with my long deceased grandmother - that there ought to be a head tax on children. Rather than flowing the money from the productive citizens to the reproductive citizens for the mere fact that they successfully screwed out a kid. it doesn't take a whole lot of effort to do that.
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