Student Issues / Attending College

Many who have found themselves out of work thanks to the recent recession have headed back to school for retraining in a more lucrative profession – or so they thought. It turns out that many of those so-called hot industries highly touted during the slowdown are only lukewarm at best for many of the college grads trying to hunt down the openings.

Here's a look back at how things were in 2010.

The Hot Market Illusion

Check out any news publication today, and you will find at least one article about the hottest markets that are currently hiring. Case in point: A piece on the New Year's Day edition of Good Morning America this year listed four hot markets for college graduates to consider. The industries included health care, law enforcement, business services, and sales.

A recent article on CareerBuilder.com lists companies that will be hiring college graduates this summer. Some of those companies do fall into the industries listed by Good Morning America earlier this year. However, finding a company or industry that is hiring, and landing a good job right out of college are too different things, thanks to the many complexities of a dragging economy that hasn't pulled itself out of the unemployment slump just yet.

Factors Affecting Hiring

The truth is that it is simply hard to predict where the jobs will arise because there are many factors that affect the hiring prospects of any single

Many community college students today understand all too well the frustration of trying to put together a schedule each semester but finding themselves on waiting lists. The overload leaves numerous students requiring more time to complete their degrees – and postpones their opportunities in the professional, post-academic world.

One community college has come up with what they believe is a solution to this collegiate quandary.

What if you could skip to the front of waiting lists, just by paying more? Students at Bristol Community College in Massachusetts will now have the chance to register for an academic "fast track" that will allow them to graduate faster – for an increased tuition rate, according to reports by The Boston Globe and USA Today.

This video reports on the healthcare program at Bristol Community College.

A Proposal by the Princeton Review

The idea comes from the Princeton Review, a company that had previously been primarily involved in assessments and standardized test preparation. Since the acquisition of Penn Foster, a career training provider, a few months ago, the Princeton Review has jumped into the world of continuing education. Like a few other for-profit colleges, Princeton Review is currently in the process of teaming up with community colleges that offer allied healthcare degrees to provide faster access to degrees. These programs will come at a higher price tag than

Dormitories were once typically reserved for students attending university campuses, but more community colleges have begun opening dorms for their students. The inclusion of dorms on some community college campuses is garnering much attention, as well as surprising tension. While many assert that dorms for community college campuses provide greater conveniences for their students, others argue that the dorms should only be reserved for university campuses.

The Demand for Dormitory Living

According to the Los Angeles Times, the rising cost of tuition at many universities is pushing a larger number of students towards the more affordable degree pathways provided by community colleges. Given these increasing enrollment numbers, many community colleges are looking for ways to accommodate the growing ranks of students, and dormitories are becoming a popular solution.

Speaking on this latest development is Karen Kent from the American Association of Community Colleges in Washington D.C., “We do think it's a trend for more community colleges to provide residential housing for students.” Indeed, this trend is undeniable, as schools in Texas, Minnesota, Florida, and Washington are already completing the construction of dorms on select community college campuses.

Experts predict that California’s community colleges may be among the most popular campus locations for new dormitory construction, given the immense numbers of students enrolled on these campuses. In fact, 11 of the state’s community colleges already provide dormitories for their students. Currently, an estimated 2.8 million students are enrolled in the 110 community colleges of California, and the

A majority of California’s school districts, community colleges, and four-year universities are participating in CalPASS, a groundbreaking program that is improving their students’ academic success.

The CalPASS program makes student achievement data from kindergarten through college available to teachers of all levels. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that CalPASS “has collected 346 million student records on 25 million students, including information on demographics, student performance and test scores.” However, students’ test scores are not connected to any personal or identifying information. Instead, teachers, professors, and administrators at all levels of California’s public education system can view the data trends, using the information to determine their instructional decisions.

CalPASS, which stands for California Partnership for Achieving Student Success, is based in Grossmont Community College in San Diego. It was started in 1998, when Brad Phillips, then the director of research, planning, and academic services at Grossmont, realized that there was no existing channel through which he could ascertain how students from his two-year college were performing academically after they transferred to four-year colleges. Phillips decided that he needed to create such a system so that teachers and administrators could use the information to improve how students are taught.

From the CalPASS website: "Cal-PASS Plus, created through leadership and funding by California Community College Chancellor’s Office, is an accessible, actionable and collaborative pre-K through 16 system of student data.

Cal-PASS Plus’ mission is to provide actionable data to help

Smartphones in Community Colleges

Community college students often work in addition