Community colleges not producing graduates


Community college has been hailed as a way to get Americans back to work, and as the way to produce the highest number of college graduates in the world. But, a new study shows that in New York, most students who start community college never finish anywhere.

From today’s front page:

Just one-third of the students who enroll in the state’s community colleges actually finish, a new study has found.


School officials argue those numbers don’t tell the whole story because not every student who enrolls in community college intends to graduate; some come only for a few courses.


Despite their poor performance in getting students to complete school, community colleges are still a vital part of the state economy, said Tom Hilliard, the report’s author and a senior fellow at the center.

“The problem is not that community colleges lack value to the labor market and the local community,” he said. “The problem is they fall short of their potential.”

Categories: General
Scott Waldman

12 Responses

  1. ann says:

    “graduating” from a community college only means you ahve completed the first two years of college for a four year degree. The “associates degree” only means you made it through two years worth of study, not that you have a college degree.

    Community colleges are very useful for many who want to go to college, or are thinking about college, or want to bring their grades up before applying to college, etc.

    Apparently most of the people attending community college didn’t go on to college and instead-hopefully-went straight into the workforce. Or they could have transferred into a college prior to finishing their 2nd year, which happens all the time too.

    This really means nothing…

  2. Gary B says:

    So they want to start applying k-12 resources to college, like extra help services, and keep a closer eye on the students. So community college will start costing more like what high school costs. Then they want to have more k-12 “accountability” to make sure that the students get their 2 year degree. All that will happen is the two year degree will become what the high school diploma used to be, which is what the middle school diploma used to be before we started putting so much emphasis on people graduating.

  3. Julio says:

    @ ann, who are you to claim that an associate degree is not a college degree? Many two-year degrees are very valuable, such as nursing, accounting, culinary, or IT. Community colleges are colleges and the degrees are valid. You do graduate when you complete an associate degree program. I’m not sure what you are even talking about.
    Its true that some people who are attending community colleges are trying to test out or explore the college experience in a lower-stakes, lower cost environment. I’ve known people whom I went to HS with who went for one semester to try it out, because a parent encouraged them to give it a try. They didn’t continue or complete their degree, college wasn’t for them. That is one of the values of a community college, allowing someone to test the waters without being saddled with thousands of dollars in debt, to explore majors and career opportunities.

  4. Albert J says:

    What exactly is, “the potential” Community Colleges are falling short of if, “The problem is not that community colleges lack value to the labor market and the local community,”?

    Isn’t the primary objective of continuing formal education to enhance your employment potential by providing useful skills that would have additional value to a prospective employer?

  5. ann says:

    Julio, that’s what Community Colleges were intended to be…a stepping stone to college, a sample of college, a place to take course for the community.
    Recently CCs have added two year degrees to attract more students. By two year degree, I don’t mean “associates” but those that you mention such as nursing, culinary, etc in which you are completing a program of study.
    An associates is not a completion of a program of study; it’s working towards the completion of a 4 year program of study.

  6. Julio says:

    @ann, I guess you don’t understand what community colleges are, because, based on what you have written, you are wrong. I’m not really sure what you are saying. The degrees I mentioned and could list many more, are associate degrees. They have existed for decades. They weren’t recently added. When you complete these degrees you graduate. Community colleges are colleges. For some, they serve as a stepping stone to bigger 4-yr college and Universities, for others, it is the end of their education. It is a degree, it counts. If you receive an associate degree in culinary, environmental science, nursing, accounting, business, etc, you have completed a program of study. Some people use community college as a stepping stone for additional study, others use it test out the college experience, and others complete a degree and move into the workplace. This is how community colleges have always existed. There are other colleges that are mostly 2-yr institutions, such as Paul Smiths in the Adirondacks. People earn Associate degrees in a variety of disciplines, that is what degree you earn for 2 years of study. It could be in Land Surveying, Culinary Arts, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Forestry, and others. These are degrees, they count, and they are called Associate degrees.

    Under your logic, unless someone has completed a graduate degree, they have not gone to college, nor earned a degree. A bachelor degree in English, Psychology, Sociology, History, or a variety of other degrees won’t earn you a job. You haven’t completed a program of study. The people with doctorates have, they will a job in these fields, they have completed the study of these disciplines.

  7. Hilarity says:

    Ann, I’ll say what Julio won’t. You’re an ignorant snob.

  8. Dadd says:

    What an interesting headline………….you could say the same for Albany High School!

  9. ann says:

    Scott Waldeman, I thought you weren’t supposed to allow attacks on commenters? hopefully, you’ll extend me the same courtesy you did Hilarity.

    Hilarity, I think you are an ignorant judgemental little troll.

  10. Grumpy_Old_Man says:

    Ann, go ahead and think that. I’d rather be a troll than look down my nose and judge people by their level of education.

  11. Grumpy_Old_Man says:

    By the way you spelled Waldman wrong. Wow, I ENVY that PhD you claim to have.

  12. Grumpy_Old_Man says:

    Mr. Waldman, I’d like to issue an apology to Ann, the last two statements, and apparently every statement made by Hilarity were made by a family from a family computer. This time he forgot to change the name. I have since caught the perp and he is being punished accordingly.