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Yes, I am currently a student at the community college. This semester I am taking 9 credits. No, the college classroom is not like high school. If a student were inappropriate in their behavior, disruptive, or abusive in their language, they would be asked to leave. If they refused, security would be called and they would be escorted from the room.

This has never happened. The students who are there want to be there. No one is threatening with truancy laws.

By the way, a charter school has dual college enrollment at the community college as part of its program. These students are delightful additions to the class, hard working, and well prepared for the course work.

I have a doctorate. When I retired I decided to become a serious and hard working artist. I enrolled in the local community college and enrolled in the graphic arts program with an emphasis in illustration.

I have been a part and full time student at the community college for three years. I have more than enough credits to graduate with an associate degree in liberal arts but I have only finished a little more than half of the illustration program. Approximately 20 students began Illustration 1. As we are finishing Illustration 2 only 3 students remain. Illustration has prerequisites.

I don't know how many dropped out of the program due to their inability to manage the beginning prerequisite courses. The main problem that I observed was due to innumeracy. Many of the students could not read a ruler. They literally could not find 3/16th or 3.75 of an inch on a ruler. Metrics? Forget it. The students were amazed that I could add, subtract, multiply, and divide fractions in my head faster than they could pull out their phones. Ratio and proportion, which is **essential** in any graphics arts program, was a mystery.

There are two reasons that I could determine for the high drop out rate.

1) Insufficient I Q needed to master the technology, software programs, and photography required.

2) Innumeracy.