Is President Obama's Plan for Free Community College Right for America?

In the face of many difficulties, including massive budget cuts, low graduation rates, and students who need an abundance of guidance and support to stay on track, community colleges throughout the nation are finding ways to keep their doors open and graduate students on time. No school has been more successful in making the most of a less-than-ideal situation than Rio Salado College.

Rio Salado is part of the Maricopa Community College District, a ten-campus system in Phoenix that offers over 10,000 courses for its 250,000 students on campus and online. It is one of the largest higher education institutions in the United States. Rio Salado accounts for roughly 60,000 of the system's students, many of whom attend part-time to accommodate work schedules and family needs due to economic disadvantages.

Students who come from poverty have the odds stacked against them about graduation. The graduation rate for community college students in the United States is at most 40 percent, but that number falls drastically for poor and working-class students. According to the New York Times, only about one-quarter of first-year college students born into families in the bottom half of the income spectrum will go on to get an undergraduate degree within six years. Yet, 90 percent of students in the top one-quarter of the income spectrum will obtain their degree. Socioeconomic status will significantly determine whether a student gets a degree.

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Getting college scholarships involves much more than filling out applications and writing essays. There are both practical and creative steps that must be taken to help you win as many scholarships as possible. As a current or future community college student, you’re already one step ahead by choosing a far less expensive school than four-year or private school options. You can make your community college expenses even less with a little work.

It’s never too early to start searching for scholarships. As surprising as it may sound, many college scholarship programs are available for students in their freshman, sophomore, or junior years of high school, as well as for students in elementary and middle school! That being the case, waiting until your senior year to locate and apply for scholarships puts you at risk because you could miss out on all scholarship opportunities.

It’s also vital to start your scholarship search early because it’s a time-consuming process that requires a healthy commitment of time and energy. Each application will have its unique requirements, and the time it takes to gather transcripts, letters of recommendation, and other required materials can be up to several weeks. And while thousands of students receive scholarships each year, not everyone will get something in return for all their hard work on their application materials. Although it can be discouraging not to receive any award letters in the mail, you definitely won’t get any if you give up. Committing yourself

The lure of an affordable college education brings countless thousands of students just like you to community college campuses each semester. With a greater breadth and depth of course offerings and degree programs available than ever before, community colleges represent excellent value for many students who seek to build their skills for future educational and career endeavors. In addition to many associate's degrees and professional certificate programs, community colleges throughout the country offer select bachelor's degree programs, furthering the appeal of the community college route. However, despite the many advantages of these programs, they are not for everyone.

Degree Programs Around the Nation

The movement to allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees is borne out of the needs of the modern workforce. Education and economic officials recognize that with major gaps in the workforce in healthcare, energy exploration, and information technology, new workers need to be trained. Community colleges represent an excellent opportunity to train these workers because they are typically at the forefront of educational innovation and are much more able to respond to the changing needs of the workforce than a four-year institution.

This new wave of educational opportunity is present in all corners of the country. More than a dozen community colleges in Washington State now offer baccalaureate degrees. More than two dozen two-year institutions in Florida offer four-year degree options. Texas, Hawaii, and West Virginia community colleges have gotten on board with providing bachebachelor'see programs as well. Community colleges in 21

There are many perks to attending community college. From a financial standpoint, a community college education is far less expensive than one from a four-year school. Class sizes at community colleges tend to be smaller, so students can usually count on more individualized attention from their professors. Community college campuses are often closer to home as well, so students have an easier commute if they live off-campus. If they live on campus, there are more social and recreational programs available today than ever before.

But going to college can still be a hard transition to make. The coursework is more rigorous than in high school, which can cause some students to struggle to keep pace. Some students enter community college without all the skills they need to be successful as well. Fortunately, community colleges have made student support services a primary focus of improvement over the course of the last twenty years. With academic support services like tutoring and remedial classes, on-campus advising and counseling services, and job placement and transfer assistance programs, campuses offer assistance for students’ most common needs.

This video offers an overview of Gateway Community College's learning center.

Remedial Coursework Revisited

According to a report by the Community College Research Center, about six in ten community college students are referred to some kind of remedial course. For a healthy portion of those students, more than one remedial course