Community college leaders said that the need to raise tuition is the greatest challenge to maintaining affordability, while declining financial aid is less of a concern, according to a recent survey.
More than 45% of the leaders surveyed believed that the need to raise college tuition is the greatest challenge to affordability, 43% said that rising tuition and declining financial aid are equally important challenges, and 11% believed that declining financial aid is the greatest challenge.
The survey, Community Colleges Today: The Presidents Speak, polled 251 top-level community college executives (88% were college presidents) and was administered by the independent research firm Rockbridge Associates, in cooperation with Sallie Mae and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC).
Despite the affordability challenges that community college leaders face, 61% said it is very or somewhat likely that they can maintain affordability at their schools over the next few years. Nearly 40% said it was very or somewhat unlikely that they would be able to maintain affordability.
Student retention was another top concern among the leaders surveyed, with 80% believing that retaining students until graduation is a major challenge. Nearly half (45%) of the leaders said they expected the retention problem to grow in the future, while one in four said the problem would diminish.
Financial aid was one method leaders used to increase retention. An overwhelming majority (71%) said they used financial aid to increase retention. Fifteen percent who do not use financial aid to retain students said they plan on using financial aid to retain students in the future.
"When considering retention it is important to remember that these institutions fill many diverse needs in the community, and sometimes students enroll in courses at their local community college as a refresher or for professional development, and never intend to graduate with a degree," said Dr. Robert G. Templin Jr., president of the Northern Virginia Community College. "What we never want to see is a student dropping out based on a lack of financial resourcesand that is why a commitment from the state and federal government to support community colleges is so very important."
Leaders reported using other means to retain students, with 99% using tutoring, 99% using academic counseling, 94% using orientation, and 86% using personal counseling.
Other survey findings:
- Leaders were confident that their institutions provide students with a high-quality education.
- A majority (58%) consider a lack of state and local funding their single most important challenge.
- Almost half (43%) generally do not think it is reasonable to tie funding to quantitative goals such as rates of transfer to four-year schools and job placement. Only 10% consider performance-based funding a very reasonable idea.
- Only 16% said they are highly prepared for a demographic shift to a larger minority population at community colleges, while 57% said they were somewhat prepared.
- One-third of respondents perceived an enrollment gap on their campus, with minority students less likely than their non-minority peers to enroll, but 39% believe the gap will shrink, and 32% believe it will remain unchanged, despite increasing minority enrollment.
- Nearly all (98%) reported offering online courses, and 94% of those say they plan to expand current offerings. Insufficient funding was the most commonly cited obstacle to establishing or growing online course offerings.
"Community colleges are facing many of the same issues confronting institutions of higher education across the country and across the world," said George Boggs, president of AACC. "But because the basic mission of community colleges is to provide affordable education to the citizenry of a particular region - not just to those who meet certain academic qualifications - these institutions also encounter additional challenges, such as high levels of transfers, an increased need for remediation among incoming students, and elevated numbers of minority, low-income, and non-English proficient students."
By Haley Chitty
NASFAA Assistant Director for Communications
Posted April 25, 2006 on www.NASFAA.org, the Web Site of the
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA).
Copyright 2006. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited
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