Dear Commons Community,

Two colleagues here at the CUNY Graduate Center, David  Monaghan and Paul Attewell, have just released a study that concludes a key reason why students are much less likely to earn a four-year degree if they first enroll at a community college, is lost credits in the transfer process.

The research questions several other explanations for why many community college students fail to eventually complete bachelor’s degrees, such as assumptions about lowered expectations, a vocational focus or inadequate academic rigor during their time at two-year colleges.  An article in Inside Higher Education summarizes the study.  An abstract of the study is reprinted below.

This research adds significantly to our understanding of student attrition.

Well-done!

Tony

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The Community College Route to the Bachelor’s Degree

Published online first in:
Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis
March 19, 2014

David B. Monaghan, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York
Paul Attewell, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Abstract

It is well established that students who begin post-secondary education at a community college are less likely to earn a bachelor’s degree than otherwise similar undergraduates who begin at a 4-year school, but there is less consensus over the mechanisms generating this disparity. We explore these using national longitudinal transcript data and propensity-score methods. Inferior academic preparation does not seem to be the main culprit: We find few differences between students’ academic progress at each type of institution during the first 2 years of college and (contrary to some earlier scholarship) students who do transfer have BA graduation rates equal to similar students who begin at 4-year colleges. However, after 2 years, credit accumulation diverges in the two kinds of institutions, due in part to community college students’ greater involvement in employment, and a higher likelihood of stopping out of college, after controlling for their academic performance. Contrary to some earlier claims, we find that a vocational emphasis in community college is not a major factor behind the disparity. One important mechanism is the widespread loss of credits that occurs after undergraduates transfer from a community college to a 4-year institution; the greater the loss, the lower the chances of completing a BA. However, earlier claims that community college students receive lower aid levels after transfer and that transfers disproportionately fail to survive through the senior year are not supported by our analyses.

Dear Commons Community,

The New York State Senate earlier this week voted to reject the Dream Act, which would allow undocumented immigrants to receive state tuition aid.   This is a sad event given the normally  progressive attitude in New York when it comes to assisting students to pay for college tuition.  As reported in the New York Times:

“The narrow vote — the bill fell two votes short of passage — was a bitter disappointment to immigrant advocates who had hoped the state would help make college more affordable for “Dreamers,” young immigrants brought here illegally as children, many of whom are unable to continue their educations once they leave high school…

…advocates were left wondering why Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who had called the Dream Act a priority, didn’t seem to expend much effort to push it through the Legislature.

New York is proud of its long reputation as a progressive state, and the Dream Act is just the kind of pro-immigrant legislation that should have passed easily to the governor’s desk, with the governor’s staunch support. But Monday’s vote puts New York behind California, New Mexico, Washington and Texas, all of which passed Dream Acts providing state tuition aid for their college-bound Dreamers.”

The legislative session and the budget season is still in their early stages in New York and maybe there will be some negotiation on this wrong-headed vote.

Tony