Flores notes the community college mission is evolving, and because of societal failures that allow some students to reach adulthood lacking basic skills, community colleges must meet these students’ needs as well as the needs of high-achieving students who are seeking a highly economical way to start earning their bachelor’s.
“If we take the same students that come to us at a ninth-grade level to an associate level; in order for us to do that well, they have to have exposure to good students,” Flores says. “We think that coming to a community college, getting well-grounded in learning fundamentals and giving students the opportunity to go as far as they possibly can is our mission. It’s not just about remediation, it’s not just about occupation or transfer. We’re also supposed to provide opportunities for people in their sunset years.”
Ultimately, Young says she see a “tipping point” when it comes to shifting perceptions about the quality and comprehensiveness of community college programs.
“I think students are becoming savvy consumers of education, and they realize at the community college, they’re going to get the same kind of general education if they’re doing a transfer curriculum that they would get in terms of course work at a four-year institution. They’re going to get it oftentimes in much smaller classes and they’re going to get it at a very different price point,” Young says.
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