#community-colleges

#community-colleges

While community college advocates argued the lower-cost degrees would benefit students in a state with vast rural expanses and education deserts, private universities countered that community colleges are stepping out of bounds and infringing on their territory. Greg Steinke, the president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, even went so far as to say the move could put some institutions out of business, telling lawmakers a few weeks ago that "without any question and without any doubt," if the bill passed, "some of our private colleges will close."

For many students, vertical transfer (transfer from an associate's to a bachelor's program) is less a bridge than a maze. Typically, about 80 percent of community college students say they intend to earn a bachelor's degree, yet only about 30 percent ever transfer and roughly 16 percent complete a bachelor's within six years. Yet under these topline numbers, outcomes vary widely. And figuring out which combinations of student actions and background factors matter, and which pathways are most promising, can be a complicated mess.

The program introduces Cali, a "human-centered" AI tool designed to enhance-not replace-human support. Cali can converse in more than 140 languages and help students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the California Dream Act Application (CADAA). The tool is expected to reduce errors on the forms and help students stay on track toward enrollment and graduation.

The bill has been referred to the House Universities and Colleges Committee for review. If signed into law, the bill would merge the Mississippi Delta and Coahoma community college districts, the East Mississippi and Meridian community college districts, and the Copiah-Lincoln and Southwest Mississippi community college districts by July 2027. The move would reduce the number of community colleges in the state from 15 to 12.

They were well represented among the awards focused on workforce training but were shut out when it came to addressing larger social issues. To be fair, FIPSE wasn't alone in ignoring community colleges. As Karen Stout pointed out this weekend, The Chronicle 's quarter-century forecast drew on 50 experts from across higher education to talk about emerging trends; only one was from a community college.

California led the nation in 2020, outlawing a debt collection practice that sometimes kept low-income college students from getting jobs or advanced degrees. But five years later, 24 of the state's 115 community colleges still said on their websites that students with unpaid balances could lose access to their transcripts, according to a recent UC Merced survey. The communications failure has been misleading, student advocates said, although overall, students have benefited from the law.

"More than 70 percent of employers say they'd rather hire someone with less experience but who understands AI than someone with more experience. That's a big change," said Lisa Gevelber, chief marketing officer for Gemini, Google's AI product.

Outside of the elite institutions that dominate the discourse, it's common for students to "swirl" between or among institutions. These are students who picked up some credits here and some there, often with breaks for life happening and/or financial issues. They often show up at community colleges in hopes of taking a few more classes to patch together an actual degree.

As college tuitions rise closer to $100,000 a year, both private and public Massachusetts colleges have made free tuition available to students with household incomes under amounts that range from $75,000 to $200,000. Due to the increase in financial aid, out-of-pocket costs have recently gone down nationwide, according to research from College Board. Many Mass. colleges offering free tuition to applicants under a certain household income have been announced over the past couple years, and have become available for students this fall 2025.

The report, based on a 2024 survey of students from 164 community colleges, found that parenting students were more engaged than nonparenting students across multiple benchmarks, including coming to class prepared and never skipping classes, despite their additional responsibilities. These students were also more likely than nonparents to have earned an associate degree or certificate or to mention changing careers as a goal.

Geographic clusters allow workers in specific industries to remain in one location while switching jobs, minimizing the disruption caused by relocations. This stability is especially valuable for two-income families.

The report used data from the AAUP's inaugural survey of community colleges, conducted in partnership with the Center for the Study of Community Colleges.

The Trump administration has frozen roughly $716 million intended for adult education programs, impacting funding for high school equivalency classes, ESL programs, and community colleges.

"Trump's accusation that Harvard is 'very antisemitic' rings hollow coming from the man who hosted a Holocaust-denying white nationalist at Mar-a-Lago."