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New report finds that
community college students work too many hours at the expense of academic
success
Sacramento, CA: Community College
students could graduate faster and with better grades if they spent less time
working at their jobs and more time studying and taking classes, according to a
new report released today by the public interest group CALPIRG. Community
college students surveyed reported working an average of 23 hours per week to
cover college costs, leaving them without enough time to focus on academics. At
the same time, many community college students had basic misunderstandings
about financial aid, and the less they understood the less likely they were to have
applied for aid. These factors likely
contribute to low graduation rates – only 24% of community college students who
intend to earn an associates’ degree or transfer to a four-year institution
succeed in doing so within six years.
“California needs
graduates to drive our economic recovery,” said Assemblywoman Fiona Ma (D- San
Francisco). “The community colleges educate six out of every ten college
students in this state. We can’t afford for community college students not to
succeed.” Enrollment at the states’ 110 colleges is already close to three
million, and with many unemployed and underemployed workers seeking retraining
and fee hikes making four-year schools less affordable, community college
enrollment is likely to continue to rise.
“People
think community colleges are cheap” said Saffron Zomer, Campus Program Director
for CALPIRG “but fees are only about 5% of the total cost of attendance, and so
most students have no choice but to work long hours to get through school.”
However, less than one-quarter of students surveyed felt that they were able to
balance work and study well. Many survey respondents felt that their work hours
made it difficult for them to keep up with their schoolwork. Others felt their
employment commitments kept them from taking another class, or being more
involved on campus.
When
asked three basic questions about financial aid, only ten percent of survey
respondents were able to answer all correctly.
Those who knew the least about financial aid were also the least likely
to have applied for it. The report recommends that financial aid offices work
to clear up basic misunderstandings and help students fill out the FAFSA and
receive all of the aid for which they are eligible.
But
improving outreach materials and increasing application rates is only part of
the solution: “We need to increase our investment in higher education and fund
state financial aid programs adequately, so that students can afford to focus
on academics,” said Reid Milburn, President of the Student Senate for
California Community Colleges. Added Zomer, “Of course we are in a recession –
but if we don’t fund higher education now we’re just undermining our own future
success as a state.”
CALPIRG is
a statewide, non-profit public interest organization, with chapters at eleven
campuses in California:
Visit www.calpirgstudents.org for more information about CALPIRG’s Getting to Graduation
Campaign.
