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Results Portraying Community College Students
- Almost half of the undergraduate students in public colleges
and universities in the U.S. are now enrolled in community colleges.
Typically older than the traditional 18 to 22-year-old college
student (the average community college student is 29), most community
college students are juggling their college studies with other
responsibilities to jobs and families. Thirty-one percent of survey
respondents have children living at home, 57% work more than 20
hours a week. Most are financially independent of their parents,
and 44% of surveyed students report that lack of finances would
be a likely or very likely cause for them to drop out of college.
- Community college students have varied and multiple educational
goals – 51% of survey respondents indicate that their primary
goal is to transfer to a four-year college or university; however,
58% say their primary goal is to obtain an associate degree. (Respondents
may have more than one goal, which is common among community college
students.). Twelve percent report they are taking classes at more
than one institution simultaneously, and 25% have already earned
some kind of postsecondary credential – a vocational certificate
or an associate, bachelor's, or graduate degree. Almost two-thirds
(63%) attend college part-time.
- Despite the challenges they face, community college students
express a high degree of satisfaction with their educational experience.
Ninety-four percent would recommend their college to a friend
or family member, and 86% rate their overall educational experience
at the college as good or excellent. Seventy percent indicate
that their college provides the support they need to succeed at
the college either "quite a bit" or "very much." By contrast,
though, only 45% feel that they are able to get the financial
support they need to afford their education.
For examples of intentional strategies that colleges are using
to promote active and collaborative learning, see CCSSE's
2007 National Report, Committing
to Student Engagement: Reflections on CCSSE's First Five Years,
2007 Findings.
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