Community college

From Free net encyclopedia

In Canada and the United States, a community college, sometimes called a junior college, is an educational institution providing post-secondary education and lower-level tertiary education, granting certificates, diplomas, and associate's degrees. The name derives from the fact that community colleges primarily accept and attract students from the local community, and are often supported by the local community through property taxes. In Canada, community colleges are usually simply referred to as "colleges".

In the United Kingdom, community college is sometimes used to describe further education colleges which, in addition to their primary mandate to provide training for 16 to 18 year olds, also provide part-time adult education.

See discussion of the word college.

1 Governance
2 Enrollment
3 Educational offerings
4 Advantages of community colleges
5 Disadvantages of community colleges
6 Community college libraries
7 See also
- 7.1 North American community colleges
8 External links
9 References

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Governance

Most community colleges are operated either by special districts that draw property tax revenue from the local community, or by a division of the state university. In the first case, the special district is governed by an board of trustees that is elected by the local community and is subject to limited control by a state agency that supervises all community college districts.

Either way, the board or the state university selects a president, who then acts as the chief executive officer of the college and controls the faculty and staff.

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Enrollment

In North America, community colleges operate under a policy of "open admission". That is, anyone with a high school diploma or GED may attend, regardless of prior academic status or college entrance exam scores.

The "open admission" policy results in a wide range of students attending community college classes. Students range in age from teenagers in high school taking classes under a "concurrent enrollment" policy (which allows both high school and college credits to be earned simultaneously) to working adults taking classes at night to complete a degree or gain additional skills in their field to students with graduate degrees who enroll to become more employable or to pursue lifelong interests. "Reverse transfers" (or those transferring from a university) constitute one of the fastest growing new community college college cohorts.

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Educational offerings

Community colleges generally offer three levels of study programs.

The first level of study is toward an associate's degree, in which a student takes necessary courses needed to earn a degree that will allow for workforce entry into jobs requiring some level of college education but not a full four-year degree. The associate's degree program also allows for students who wish to eventually obtain a bachelor's degree at a four-year college to complete the necessary "core" requirements to attend the college of their choice.

Many community colleges have arrangements with nearby four-year institutions, where a student obtaining an associate's degree in a field will automatically have his/her classes counted toward the bachelor's degree requirement. For example, a community college associate's degree in hotel and restaurant management, computers or accounting would count toward the four-year school's core requirement for a Business Administration degree. Some have gone one step further, having arrangements with a four-year college for the student to obtain the bachelor's degree from the four-year college while taking all the courses via distance learning or other non-traditional modes, on the community college campus, thus limiting the number of trips to the four-year school.

The second level of study is towards certification in an area of training (such as nursing, computer repair, or welding), which require preparation for a state or national examination, or where certification would allow for hiring preference or a higher salary upon entering the workforce.

The third level of study offers services of local interest to members of the community, such as job placement, adult continuing education classes (either for personal achievement or to maintain certification in specialized fields), and developmental classes for children. Some community colleges offer opportunities for students to return and earn a high school diploma or obtain a GED. Community colleges often work with local employeers to develop specialized classes tailored toward their organization's needs.

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Advantages of community colleges

Community colleges are geared toward local students and local needs.<ref>Irving Pressley McPhail, "Top 10 reasons to attend a community college," Community College Week 17, no. 11 (3 January 2005): 4-5.</ref> Students who could not afford campus or off-site housing at a four-year college, or for other reasons cannot relocate, can attend courses while staying in their local community. Also, community colleges can work with local businesses to develop customized training geared toward local needs, whereas a four-year institution generally focuses on state-wide or national needs.<ref>M.H. Miller, "Four-year schools should take more cues from community colleges, some educators say," Community College Week 17, no. 9 (6 December 2004): 3-4.</ref> Some community colleges have programs allowing local high school students to "jump start" their college career by taking classes at the community college that also count toward their high school diploma. Policies and classes offered vary with different agreements existing between the community college and high schools.
The "open enrollment" policy allows anyone to begin the goal towards future college education. The policy is highly beneficial to students with mediocre academic records in high school (or who dropped out and later obtained a GED), students "maturing" later in life who now see the benefits of college education, or students who could not attend college after high school but now have the chance to do so.
In North America, tuition and fees are substantially lower than those of a traditional four-year public or private institution. Students from low-income families, or those having to work to pay for their education, benefit from the reduced costs. Many colleges offer and accept scholarships or educational grants.
Community colleges have little or no time limits on when classes must be taken or a degree must be earned; in contrast, many four-year schools, tired of "professional students" taking up limited space, have imposed limits on when a degree can be earned. Students who must hold down full-time employment, and who cannot take a full-time load, are thus not under pressure to complete courses in a limited timeframe.
Four-year colleges often give priority to students transferring from community colleges, citing their demonstrated preparedness for junior and senior college-level work. Students who may not have been able to attend a particular college after high school (whether for academic, financial, or personal reasons) may now be able to attend the college of their choice.
Community college professors are solely dedicated to teaching, and classes are generally small. In comparison, a four-year college course may be taught to 300 students by a teaching assistant, while the professor is concentrating on research. Most professors at community colleges have master's degrees and some even hold doctorate degrees.
Several community colleges have successful athletic programs, where students have gone on to play for major colleges or the professional ranks. Others offer no athletic programs.
Research shows that there is no learning or income penalty for individuals who start at a community college and transfer to a four-year institution. Additionally, research indicates that students who begin their higher education career at a community college are more likely to transfer to a higher quality four-year institution than if they had started at a four-year college.

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Disadvantages of community colleges

Transferring credits can sometimes be a problem, as each four-year college has its own requirements as to what is and isn't required for enrollment. However, many four-year colleges (usually near the community college) have made arrangements allowing associate degrees to qualify for transfer, and in some cases allowing the student to complete the bachelor's degree via distance learning from the community college campus. Minnesota has created a statewide "transfer curriculum" allowing credits to be transferred to any other public university and almost all of the private colleges. Illinois' I-transfer program program aids students in transferring credits across the state. California has a system known as Assist[1] which labels course equavilances between all California Community Colleges and California Public Four year colleges.
It is frequent for many courses to be taught by part-time lecturers holding only a Master's degree in the field, although there is little evidence, other than anecdotal, to indicate that taking a class from a full-time college instructor leads to higher order learning outcomes.
Few community colleges have on-campus housing. This makes participation in extra-curricular activities more difficult.
Many community colleges do not offer any athletic programs other than basic physical education classes.
Research shows individuals with associate's degrees earn less than those with bachelor's degrees. Because a correlation exists between years of education and earnings, this says more about years of schooling than the value of Associate's degrees or certificates, which have a strong value in the workplace.
The community college environment places little importance on socialization and, as a result, feels quite antisocial.

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Community college libraries

Community college libraries, also called learning resources centers, have evolved over their existence. These libraries often include traditional library services such as book checkout, online research tools, and research help, but they also have included multimedia technology expertise, video centers, tutor centers and support services. Community college libraries play a significant role in the college curriculum by supporting information literacy across campus. The librarians spend a significant amount of their work week in the classroom teaching students to select research tools, to evaluate search results, and to use their results in papers, speeches, or in other projects. For this reason, community college librarians are considered full faculty members at most institutions. Community college libraries are often at the cutting edge of research services, because they are able to change faster than their larger cousins at major research institutions.

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