Increasing Access to Higher Education While Increasing Student Success

This reaction paper will discuss the issue of increasing access to higher education while increasing student success, higher transfer rates, and more baccalaureate degree attainment. Is it possible that maybe we have become so reactive in higher education that we have neglected to stop, listen, and create an environment that is proactive? We can create a proactive educational system by understanding our student population. The students who are entering the community college setting are students with different “ability and academic preparedness, gender, race or ethnicity, and life circumstances” (Cohen, Brawer, & Kisker, 2013, p. 46). I think it is important to understand what the student’s intent is once they enroll in the community college. I do not believe that all students have the desire to pursue a 4-year degree. When we push the agenda of higher transfer rates and more baccalaureate degrees, we may be hurting some students more than helping them. As stated by Cohen et al., (2013), “determining the reasons that student attend college is not an exact exercise. They come for a variety of purposes, and the same person may have half-dozen reason for attending” (p.65). The main reasons for attending a community college are to “transfer to a senior institution, enter the job market, get a better job, or merely learn for one’s own purposes” (p.70). Although action is needed around the country, special focus should be made in the state of New Mexico which is “a poor state and one of the lowest-performing on the measures for high school completion, retention, and graduation” (National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, 2002, p. 33). If we expect improve these measure we will need to find solutions that make an impact o...

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...supported by the 4-year institutions. In addition, each department within the institutions must take actions and find ways to implement and support such solutions. The responsibility is big but important to our future and the future of our children. A majority of the student population these days are first-generation students. If we can find ways to support students on an individual level, it will be worth the investment because these students could then in turn support their children and family members, creating the next-generation of graduates.

References

Cohen, A. M., Brawer, F. B., & Kisker, C. B. (2013). The American community college (6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. (2002). State policy and community-college and baccalaureate transfer (NC-R-02-6). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.