Community colleges are reeling. ‘The reckoning is here.’

WVUA 23 Digital,
Community Colleges
Santos Enrique Camara, 27, who dropped out of Shoreline Community College at age 19 in 2015, plates pasta at Capers + Olives as Shennandoah Utsler, left, and chef Jimmy Liang work behind him Friday, March 24, 2023, in Everett, Wash. When Camara arrived at Shoreline Community College to study audio engineering, he quickly felt lost. “It’s like a weird maze,” remembered Camara, who had finished high school with a 4.0 grade-point average. “You need help with your classes and financial aid? Well, here, take a number and run from office to office and see if you can figure it out.” (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

The Associated Press

Community colleges are in trouble. Enrollment has fallen 37% since 2010, and their completion rates are dismal – nearly half of students drop out within a year.

Scant advising, labyrinthian financial aid and unclear career pathways are among the challenges facing two-year schools and their students.

Two-year community colleges have the worst completion rates of any kind of university or college.

Nearly half of students drop out of the community college where they started within a year.

Only slightly more than 40% finish within six years.

That has implications for the national economy, which relies on community colleges to fill many of the jobs that have shortages.

Read the full story on AP News right here.

(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

4/3/2023 7:58:43 AM (GMT -5:00)

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