Spending time evaluating different schools, however, can make a huge difference. Studies show that above average students can prosper just about anywhere, but students who need remedial help—and there are plenty in that category at community colleges—will face a much greater chance at success at enterprising schools that excel in educating.
Unfortunately, some community colleges are nothing more than
factories. Graduation rates are low, and interaction between students
and professors is rare and impersonal. At other community colleges,
engaged teachers and intimate class sizes energize and challenge students
who are well prepared academically. The bottom line: It would
be a huge mistake to assume that all community colleges are clones.
While researchers have devoted a lot of psychic energy to measuring
the quality of four-year colleges and universities, precious little
time has been devoted to whether quality learning is happening at
community colleges. Educators at the University of Texas in Austin,
however, are helping to fill this void.
University of Texas educators at the Community College Leadership
Program developed national benchmarks for academic excellence
at community colleges. But the program wasn’t content just to
develop academic benchmarks. Every year, it aims to see how schools
are measuring up by conducting its so-called Community College Survey
of Student Engagement (CCSSE).
Students in randomly selected classes at each participating community
college fill out surveys that ask questions highly correlated
with student learning and retention. Colleges use the results to examine
how they are running their campuses. But the surveys can also be
a goldmine to potential students since all the results are public. In
contrast, the individual school results of a similar survey conducted at
four-year schools, the National Survey of Student Engagement, are
not always released. CCSSE provides scores for individual schools on
its Web site (www.ccsse.org).
Not all schools participate in the survey, but you can use some of
the same questions when evaluating community colleges. The schools
are measured through five key benchmarks: active and collaborative
learning, student-faculty interaction, academic challenge, support for
learners, and student effort.
Here are some of the questions posted on the survey’s Web site
that students are asked:
Active and collaborative learning
• Did you ask questions in class or contribute to class discussions?
• Did you make a class presentation?
• Did you work with other students on projects during class?
Student-faculty interaction
• Did you discuss grades or assignments with a teacher?
• Did you talk to a teacher or advisor about career plans?
• Did you discuss ideas from your readings or classes with instructors outside class?
Academic challenge
• How many assigned textbooks, manuals, books, or book-length
packs of course readings did you read in the current school year?
• How many papers or reports of any length did you write?
• How often did you work harder than you thought you could to
meet an instructor’s standards or expectations?
Rankings and Community Colleges
When U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rankings are
released, community colleges are never included on the lists. Considering
the controversy that the rankings fuel, that’s not a bad thing. But
some education insiders believe that ranking community colleges is a
worthwhile pursuit.
Washington Monthly created a stir in 2007 when it published a list
of what it called the 30 best community colleges in the country. Education
Sector, a well-regarded education think tank, compiled the list.
Education Sector was looking for schools that fared the best in the
five areas that the survey measures. The organization also independently
obtained community college graduation rates. Those rates are
definitely worth looking at since a minority of community college students
earn a degree or certificate within three years.
The attempt to single out exemplary two-year colleges, however,
created some unhappy campers. CCSSE guardians at the University
of Texas wouldn’t cooperate with the Education Sector. The project’s
director was quoted as saying that ranking community colleges was a
“really dumb idea.” The opponents complained that rankings would
ignore important differences in two-year colleges, such as the kind of
students they attract, their size, and their financial resources.
But the community college rankings are a heck of a lot different
from U.S. News & World Report’s controversial rankings of four-year
schools. The news magazine relies heavily on a school’s reputation in
determining its collegiate pecking order. It also places a heavy emphasis
on how selective the schools are, as well as the weight of their
endowments.
Education Sector has rightly criticized U.S. News & World
Report’s rankings for failing to measure what’s truly important—the
learning experience for students who actually enroll. And that’s why
Education Sector and the Washington Monthly’s collaboration is valuable.
Their list is dependent on what’s actually happening in the classrooms.
Best 30 Community Colleges
In the Washington Monthly’s list, smaller colleges rose to the top.
Nineteen schools have enrollments of fewer than 2,000, and eight of
the institutions had fewer than 1,000 students.
1. Atlanta Technical College, Georgia
2. Cascadia Community College, Washington State
3. Southern University at Shreveport, Louisiana
4. Southwestern Community College, North Carolina
5. Hazard Community and Technical College, Kentucky
6. North Florida Community College, Florida
7. Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College, Wisconsin
8. Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, Kentucky
9. Zane State College, Ohio
10. Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Georgia
11. Texas State Technical College-Marshall, Texas
12. Lake City Community College, Florida
13. Itasca Community College, Minnesota
14. South Piedmont Community College, North Carolina
15. Vermillion Community College, Minnesota
16. Hawaii Community College, Hawaii
17. Ellsworth Community College, Iowa
18. Chipola College, Florida
19. Martin Community College, North Carolina
20. Texas State Technical College-West Texas, Texas
21. South Texas College, Texas
22. Skagit Valley College, Washington
23. Valencia Community College, Florida
24. MiraCosta College, California
25. Florida Community College at Jacksonville, Florida
26. New Hampshire Community and Technical College, New Hampshire
27. Frank Phillips College, Texas
28. Mesabi Range Community and Technical College, Minnesota
29. Northwest Vista College, Texas
30. New Mexico State University-Grants, New Mexico
Action Plan
Don’t assume that the closest community college is your best bet.
Refer to the questions formulated by the Community College Survey
of Student Engagement when researching schools.
Source: The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price
