College Policies

Students may select the location for their post-secondary education from a variety of factors, including tuition costs, degree programs available and quality of education received. This is true for prospective community college students, as well as those looking at a possible four-year degree. One factor that may not be at the top of a searching student’s list is campus safety. However, staying safe while you are pursuing your degree is an important characteristic that contributes to the overall college experience. Fortunately, StateUniversity.com has you covered, with annual rankings that let prospective students know which college campuses are considered the safest in the country.

Choosing the Safest School

When StateUniversity.com begins its annual process of ranking U.S. colleges for safety, the first step is to take data directly from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Since private colleges do not have to report their crime figures to the FBI, some of these schools may not appear on the list. However, all schools that participate in federal student aid programs are required to report crime numbers every year, keeping most of the schools around the country under consideration for the rankings. For the 2011 rankings, about 450 of the largest schools in the United States were evaluated.

This video highlights the breadth and scope of college and university law enforcement volunteer efforts.

Crime reports for 2015 were considered when compiling the most recent

The California community college system has been struggling financially for some time, with state funding cuts totaling more than $8 million since 2008. Schools have been forced to cut back to the bare bones, with some cutting classes and others raising fees. The passage of Proposition 30 this November promises some relief for those floundering institutions, and community colleges are wasting no time finding ways to spend the extra dollars they are slated to receive in order to provide students with more classes and services they need to succeed.

What is Proposition 30?

Proposition 30, also referred to as the Sales and Income Tax Initiative, was a proposal by California Governor Jerry Brown to raise revenue for various needs throughout the state. The twofold proposal raised the state sales tax from 7.25 percent to 7.5 percent, while also increasing income taxes for those making $250,000 or more. The increases were temporary, with the additional sales tax continuing for four years and the income tax increase slated for seven years. Of the revenues generated by the Sales and Income Tax Initiative, 89 percent would go directly to California public schools. The other 11 percent would be allotted to the state’s community college system. It is estimated that the bill would increase state revenue by $6 billion annually through 2017, and then by smaller amounts through 2019. According to the Los Angeles Times, that calculates out to around $210 million in additional funding for the

Some community colleges struggling with slashed budgets can rejoice, with $500 million in grants issued to these educational institutions. The grants will be provided through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative and the U.S. Department of Labor to prepare qualified, skilled workers for various in-demand industries. The initiative is part of a larger goal by the White House to expand the role of community colleges in building a workforce in America that is prepared to handle the needs of a global economy.

The grants were announced by Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis, according to a press release on the United States Department of Labor website. A total of $500 million in grants will be issued to community college across the country that has demonstrated the ability to gear training programs to the needs of the area workforce. A total of 297 schools will receive grant funding, either individually or through consortiums. Schools can use the funding as needed to expand workforce programs through additional staff, resources, and learning materials.

This video offers an overview of the job training programs a community college offers.

Purpose of Job Training Grants

Solis explained in the Los Angeles Times that this funding would be used to restructure the priorities at community colleges across the country. In order to remain competitive in the new global workforce, American students must receive

It’s a fact: public funding for community colleges has been dwindling over the past several years, and so far, there is no indication it will ever come back. Despite the lack of money to pay for courses and services, the demand for a community college education is higher than ever. Covering the widening gap is easier said than done, but some community college leaders suggest that privatization is the way to go.

AACC Annual Meeting Explores Privatization Issue

The American Association of Community Colleges has discussed the dwindling funding issue for some time. However, Inside Higher Ed reports that the organization's recent annual meeting was the first time the privatization issue was raised in earnest. Some of the community college leaders attending the meeting took a stand on the issue, stating that while they wished the situation was different, it was time to move to the next step.

“My own college behaves much more like a private college these days than a public,” Stephen M. Curtis, president of the Community College of Philadelphia, was reported saying at Inside Higher Ed. Curtis used this statement to encourage other community college leaders to at least consider the idea of privatization. Supporting his stand was Rufus Glasper, chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges.

This video gives an overview of the American Association of Community Colleges.

“We have no choice. The state funds are gone forever,” Glasper told

Discrimination has become a point of focus at Maricopa Community Colleges in Phoenix, Arizona, as the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has launched into an investigation of some of the practices of the college system. The investigations are in response to concerns raised over two key issues: the request for immigration status from some students and the failure to provide appropriate services to non-English speaking students.

Concerns Raised by Civil Rights Center

Concerns over both of these issues were initially raised by a non-profit organization based out of Phoenix, known as the Civil Rights Center. Information on this organization is limited, but according to a report in the New York Times last year, the bare-boned group is run out of the Phoenix home of its director, Silverio Garcia Jr. Last year, Garcia filed a class-action complaint with the Department of Education, alleging that teachers in Phoenix schools were improperly transferred due to speaking accents that some children had difficulty understanding.

“This was one culture telling another culture that you are not speaking correctly,” Garcia told the New York Times.

The complaint, which was filed in May, 2010, was closed in late August, 2011, after the state agreed to alter its policy that stated only teachers who were fluent in the English could teach students learning English. State officials said at the time accents were not a part of their monitoring process to determine whether teachers should remain in the classroom.