SuccessinCommunityCollege:DoInstitutionsDiffer?

New Summary GIST

The article addresses the success rates in community colleges focusing in North Carolina by
analysing graduation rates, progress toward credits that will transfer to a four year university and,
direct market outcomes. Being assessed on these topics does not accurately show how well each
college is doing because they do not all cater to the same people and same backgrounds. This is
because one college may focus on job training while the other may focus on transfer credits.

Old Summary
This article addresses the success rates in community colleges around the state of North
Carolina based on different factors like degree attainment and dropout rates based on region and
the diversity of students. The article states that since World War II the community college
system in the United States has provided many small communities with a place to further their
educations and to get training for the labor force. This article states that the three most common
ways that community colleges are assessed are on degree completion, the completed course work
to transfer to a four year school and, direct market outcomes. These three assessments affect the
ratings of the community colleges which in turn require the lowest ranking schools to improve
their rankings so that they do not lose any more funding but this can be difficult with students
who have to balance life and school. The judging students by degree completion does not take
into account the numerous part time students that may take longer than the normal one and a half
times that are measured to get a degree. The articles states that community colleges that cater to
students from weaker high schools or have lower academic abilities typically are more
disadvantaged compared to the schools with students from better high schools. The article states
that the community college system main purpose in this day and age is to help students gain
credits that will transfer to a four year school so that they can continue their education. The
article shows how the community college system has many things going against it and how their
ranks and funding are affected by the performance of the students enrolled at their institution.
Analysis
The purpose of the article is to address how different aspects affect the way that a community
college performs and how they are ranked compared to one another and how they stack up to
four year schools. The article uses North Carolina's community college as an example of how
different aspects affect their system. The article speaks of how students from underprivileged
high schools with low funding that go to community college tend to rank lower than students
who come from a high school with more money. This means that community colleges that cater
to rural areas are almost guaranteed to be ranked lower than ones that cater to students that come
from larger cities that had access to better facilities during high school. The article also talked
about how the current ranking system does not take into account several factors like part time
students and students that are looking to transfer to a four year school. The fact that these are not
taken into account the leaves many community colleges receiving low ratings which in turn can
affect the funding to the school because of performance. The article talks about the effect that the
community college system has had on the communities that they are in which is also used as a
tool to judge how effective that the school is doing. The article was used to show the differences
in community colleges based on who attends them and where they are located which affects the
ranking of the school.

Sources
Clotfelter, Charles T., Helen F. Ladd, Clara G. Muschkin, and Jacob L. Vigdor. "Success in
Community College: Do Institutions Differ?" Research in Higher Education 54, no. 7 (2013):
805-24. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24571746.