Posted on 10/14/2019 2:14:14 PM PDT by karpov
A sense of urgency has taken hold of higher education leaders nationwide. Reports of declining community college graduation rates and the lack of skilled workers have led policymakers and college leaders to sound the alarm and vow to do whatever it takes to lower the high rate of “dropouts” and equip students to meet the labor demands of an evolving economy.
For example, in a policy brief about non-completing students written for myFutureNC (an organization focused on educational attainment), Anita Brown-Graham and Catherine Moga Bryant describe the “high numbers of non-completers in North Carolina” and argue that “while many enroll, too few North Carolina students who attend two- or four-year institutions complete their programs.” According to Brown-Graham and Bryant, the two primary reasons for why students fail to complete a credential in community college are “inadequate preparation and difficulty navigating the higher education system.”
But is community college student performance as dire as Brown-Graham and Bryant suggest? After all, 42 percent of North Carolina’s community college students do graduate, transfer, or are still enrolled with 36 credits after six years. And while it’s true that the majority of community college students do not complete credentials, are all “non-completers” failing to find meaningful employment?
As it turns out, the story is much more complex than many college officials acknowledge.
In their analyses of why students don’t finish their studies, policymakers overlook an important subset of the community college population: students who want to take a few courses, but who don’t intend to earn a credential or transfer. These students, sometimes referred to as “skills builders” or “upskillers,” only take the few specific courses they need to gain new skills for employment or to advance in their careers. Skills builders commonly take courses that train students in specific work-related fields
(Excerpt) Read more at jamesgmartin.center ...
What’s a “non-completer”?
Is that what we used to call a dropout?
With such high demand nationally for people who can actually DO SOMETHING USEFUL, I’d bet that many of those ‘non-completers’ latch on to good paying jobs before they’re even finished.
While basic familiarity with the lib arts can be instructive, snowflake ‘degrees’ don’t keep the country running.
STEM programs aside, much of the above is over-priced babysitting.
Kinda. A non-completer is someone who goes to school, gets the classes that actually help him get a job, then split for the money-making pastures. Bascially, they turn “community college” into “trade school”. :)
Gee whiz! They figured out that adding all the BS courses to trade schools in order to make them a “college” was a losing idea.
I went to a trade school. The only thing taught was whatever it took to equip a student to enter a trade. A few years later that same school required all kinds baggage the student had to take before getting a sheep skin in the electrical, plumbing, carpentry etc trades.
Betcha later on politically correct “studies” courses were also optional or mandatory.
Higher education is not about higher learning but higher incomes for the schools and let’s not forget brainwashing.
community college used to be trade school or voc school.
Clinton decided everyone had to go to college and made it mandatory for voc schools to meet the requirements to be a college.
They should all go back to being voc schools.
My son is taking the courses he needs for his certification. The certifying organization knows that putting in the hours and passing the test is what counts not the degree.
A quitter is a loser in the making. Every time you quit, you make it easier to tell yourself that quitting is acceptable.
...students who want to take a few courses, but who don’t intend to earn a credential or transfer. These students, sometimes referred to as “skills builders” or “upskillers,” only take the few specific courses they need to gain new skills for employment or to advance in their careers. Skills builders commonly take courses that train students in specific work-related fieldsSo that sounds like a great thing that the kids are doing.
If they think that graduation rates are low now, just wait until Community College is "free" for everybody!
I had to put a lot of children through college.
One method was to give them a couple of years in a local community college, and then have them transfer to a good four-year college for their degrees.
Yes!
The Dim’s mantra that everyone is entitled to college has done a lot of harm & wasted a lot of money.
Yeah but then they’re not “non-completers” really.
They went and did what they intended to.
Wasn’t there a phrase for students like that once?
Hey I like that statement.
It’s about 35 years too late though lol
“I had to put a lot of children through college.
One method was to give them a couple of years in a local community college, and then have them transfer to a good four-year college for their degrees.”
We did the same thing...told the kids to take the 2 years of community college and if they wanted to go somewhere else for the other 2 they could. My one went on to get her bachelors at a state school and the other determined for now that his associates was good enough. We paid for it as they went so no loans...Best decision we made.
My local county college is doing exactly that. They hired a new president a few years ago, and his primary goal is to get AWAY from an academic focus and toward a training/certification focus in skilled trades.
I want to take transmission rebuilding courses.
Are you talking about the state lottery fund or something else?
I think you are overreacting.
Maybe they quit to go and learn something that is more appropriate for their skills and interest, learn a good trade, work hard, and succeed.
That is a success story.
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