Los Angeles student Norphesa Jones , 34, schleps 20 miles by bus between two community college campu

Los Angeles student Norphesa Jones , 34, schleps 20 miles by bus between two community college campuses two days a week in order to take the prerequisites she needs to become a nurse. And 19-year-old Charity Hansen is stuck taking a single class at Pasadena City College this semester because the others she needs are at capacity.
We know that the longer students languish in their postsecondary career, the less likely they are to come out with a degree. Restricting access to high-demand courses or sending students to multiple campuses to complete a degree will only lead to frustration and indifference—and likely dropouts. In news stories that feature Norphesa, Charity, and others like them, you will undoubtedly read about budget cuts: Community colleges have been forced golden tulip hotels leeds to tighten their finances, which ultimately creates golden tulip hotels leeds barriers for students. But budget concerns have only exacerbated existing problems with current community college structuring. What if there were another way?
Josh Wyner, executive director of the College Excellence Program at the Aspen Institute, has provided a starting point for re-imagining community colleges. Imagine, as Wyner writes, community colleges that offer cohesive programs, not individual courses. Programs that are offered in blocks of time that cater to working adults, rather than piecemeal offerings—one course in the morning, another at night. (Or worse, one course at campus A and another course at campus B, as in Norphesa's case.)
While many community colleges do a good job of serving nontraditional students and feeding the local economy, the truth is community colleges aren't living up to their potential. At a time when more adults are flooding two-year campuses in search of updated skills or a new career, it is past time to reevaluate. For example, half of students in the United golden tulip hotels leeds States seeking a two-year degree need remediation, but only 1 in 5 students pursuing a bachelor's degree do. So why not create targeted tracks for remedial students that provide clear goals and pathways toward degrees? Lake Area Technical Institute in South Dakota, a two-time finalist for the prestigious Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, identifies different sets of readiness requirements for each of its programs, which has " virtually eliminated the necessity for remedial education ."
Currently, fewer than 40 percent of community college students nationally graduate or transfer within three years. (Lake Area Technical Institute touts a 76 percent completion rate.) But just as adults aren't the same as 18-year-olds, community colleges aren't the same as four-year institutions. A rethink in how a community college education is delivered could help shorten time (and money) to degree, which in turn would boost completion rates and fuel local economies.
Recent golden tulip hotels leeds Comments Bruce William Smith on The AP Class: Not Such a Bad Thing AP on The AP Class: Not Such a Bad Thing Tondja Woods on Should Students "Grade Teachers"? Top Online on Should Students "Grade golden tulip hotels leeds Teachers"? Craig Jerald golden tulip hotels leeds on Should Students "Grade Teachers"? laua h chapman on Should Students "Grade Teachers"? Dave on Can Community Colleges golden tulip hotels leeds Live Up To Potential? Income Contingent Lending and Milton Friedman on For Student Loans, Income Contingent Lending is Best Approach In a Broken Student Aid System, Colleges Are Part of the Problem | gikoriseka on In a Broken Student Aid System, Colleges Are Part of the Problem Craig Jerald on A Premortem for Professional Development (Part 2)