Community College News

Amid serious issues facing California community colleges today, possible reform is on the horizon. A new bill has passed California state legislators and is currently waiting on the desk of Governor Jerry Brown. The proposed legislation would bring some consistency to the California community college system and require schools in the state to focus on success and completion rates as much as they focus on enrollment and budgets. While the governor hasn’t dropped any clues on how he will go on this new law, those who drafted the legislation are hopeful that it could bring much-needed improvements to the California system if passed.

Student Success Task Force

Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, drafted Bill 1456, or the Student Success Act of 2012. The senator used information compiled by the California Community College Student Success Task Force to create his new bill. According to iJournal, the 20-member task force included faculty, staff, students, and external stakeholders in the community college system.

The task force spent seven months examining how to improve success in community colleges while boosting achievement for underserved students. At the end of the year, the task force presented its findings to stakeholders to get additional input on the best ways to utilize this information effectively to improve the community college system in California. After the hearings, the Board of Governors adopted select recommendations to draft the final bill. These recommendations included:

Teach Basic Skills—Many community college students in California are first-generation students who

The Aspen Institute recently released its top 10 finalists for the 2013 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. The award, which enjoyed its inaugural year last year, has quickly become the gold standard for community colleges across the country. The 10 schools on this list have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the areas of completion rates, learning outcomes, workforce preparedness, and success of at-risk students. These 10 colleges were selected from more than 1,000 institutions that have received consistently high marks in these four areas throughout the past academic year.

The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence

The Aspen Institute initiated its award program last year, in response to calls by the White House to raise the bar on higher education. Community colleges serve as a practical place for many students, from those graduating from high school unable to afford a four-year university to professionals looking for additional career training. With so much focus placed on the role of community colleges over the past four years, the Aspen Institute established a plan to recognize and reward those schools that set the example and the standard for the rest of the community colleges nationwide.

The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence recognizes one winner each year, as well as four finalists. Those chosen by the Aspen Institute will split a prize package of $1 million. Last year’s winner, and the first recipient of the Aspen Prize, was Valencia Community College in Orlando,

In a constant effort to improve the quality of academics for every student that enrolls on their campus, community colleges from coast to coast are on the lookout for new programs to add to their course catalog. This year, there are a number of new offerings at schools around the country, from those that celebrate the inner artist to practical programs designed to give graduates an upper hand in the workplace. Check out these new degree programs coming soon to a community college near you.

Kentucky Community College Offering Vet Tech Degree

In response to a community that is highly agricultural, Owensboro Community and Technical College will be adding a new veterinary technician degree program to its roster. This program will be the first degree in veterinary technology offered by a community college in Kentucky. The program, which will be funded by a $475,000 grant to Daviess and Hancock Counties, will fill a vital need in the state. According to the Lane Report, veterinary technicians are considered the fastest-growing occupation in Kentucky currently. With only two four-year schools offering degrees in this field, there is a definite need to train up more professionals to handle the increasing employment need in the state.

“This veterinary program will be an outstanding addition to the curriculum offered at the Owensboro Community and Technical College,” Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear told the Lane Report. “With a strong economic foundation in agriculture, western Kentucky needs qualified veterinary professionals, and

The start of a new school year is typically an exciting time for college students, filled with new professors, new material, and the promise of progressing further into higher education. However, for California community college students, those first days have been filled with worry and frustration as record numbers have been squeezed out of much-needed courses. Thanks to continued budget cuts throughout the state, more students are missing out on college classes that would help them advance their education and move into careers of their choice. Schools say they have no choice but to spend less, and students feel financial pain.

Tighter Finances All-Around

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that since 2008, the community college system throughout California has received $809 million less in state funding, which makes up around 12 percent of the system’s total budget. When lost funding is combined with the rising costs of running an institution of higher education, the financial deficits become even more pronounced. For example, Diablo Valley College, located in Pleasant Hill, California, has cut around $14 million from its budget since 2009 to compensate for a loss of $5.2 million in state funding and rising operational costs.

The Press-Enterprise states that community colleges nationwide are functioning on at least 12 percent less money than they had during the 2008-2009 academic year. To make up the difference, the entire system has resorted to “workload reductions.” The idea is to preserve services for students still

Community colleges in California are struggling, and at this point, it’s anybody’s guess how the problems with higher education in the state will eventually shake out. While much of the late focus on California community colleges has centered on San Francisco City College's accreditation threats, this isn’t the only school getting low marks from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. Many two-year schools around the state appear to be in trouble, although some are currently in hotter water than others. Can these schools, vital to the student population and the state's employment outlook, pull themselves out of the holes they are slowly sinking into?

Accreditation Sanctions Running Rampant

According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, numerous California community colleges across the state are in trouble with the accreditation commission. Three schools, including San Francisco City College, face the most severe “show cause” sanctions. In addition, 10 campuses have been placed on “probation” status, and another 14 have received “warning” status. All the schools have been given specific guidelines to improve their status by the subsequent accreditation evaluation; however, the three schools in the direst circumstances also have the most work to do.

“The problems colleges have run into with accreditation are abnormally acute at this point in California,” David Baime, senior vice president of the American Association of Community Colleges, told the Sacramento Bee. “The colleges in California have been subject to such savage budget reductions that it has