I heard it again, another community college putdown. This one came from an educator explaining criteria for high school graduation. She followed her summary with these words to her audience of parents and incoming freshmen: “So that’s the minimum requirement. But here’s what you should take if you want to go to real college — you know, not community college.”
Did she not stop to consider that some of the parents were likely community college alumni? Did she not know that the community college nearby would enroll more of her county’s high school graduates than any other college or university? Did she have any idea that there are families who hope and pray that their children can go to community college, because even though it’s the most affordable option, it’s still several thousand dollars a year and that’s real money?
We often speak in this country of a red and blue state divide. Here’s another divide: people who believe in community colleges, and people who dismiss and even diminish them. It’s true, community colleges are not the kind of places that pride themselves on 10 percent acceptance rates. Rather, they pride themselves on their open door policies. That’s because access is part of their mission. It’s one of the reasons that 46 percent of our nation’s undergraduates are enrolled in community college.
Community college is real college. Real students must accrue real credits to earn real diplomas. Many students transfer from their real community colleges to real universities, while others enroll in real work force programs and go straight to real jobs. And by the way, they make real money and real contributions to the economy and their communities.
I did not attend a community college, but I worked at one. That experience made me realize how easy I had it as a full-time student at a university where my parents paid my tuition. There wasn’t much excuse for missing a class that was less than a five-minute walk away from my dorm (I still did, on occasion). Sure, I graduated in four years. Had a nice social life, too.
The typical community college student has a very different experience. Sixty-one percent attend part-time; a majority of them work. A community college student may be a recent high school graduate living at home or a parent with a family to support. Students can take a long time to finish; sometimes they don’t.
To all those who had a college experience like mine: Imagine adding a full-time job, financial worries and family obligations to your mix of classes? Imagine if your bus is late or your babysitter didn’t show up? I know this: Any student who is able to juggle a multitude of responsibilities and earn a degree is impressive. Wouldn’t that be a person you’d want to hire?
Commencement was always my favorite day at our community college. The graduates were teenagers and older people, seasoned veterans and recent high school graduates. Some succeeded on their first try at college, some on their third. Here’s the thing about a community college commencement: It’s not just joy-filled, it’s triumphant. Because for many of the people proudly waving their diplomas, this day was far from a certainty. But they did it, and now they were moving on: working as a heating and air-conditioning technician, transferring to the engineering program at the flagship university, or heading off to join the nursing staff at a hospital. They had succeeded.
One former community college president I know was asked if her dream job was to be president at Harvard. And she said that while it’s clearly a special place, the students who attend Harvard would likely be successful with or without that university. Whereas for many of the students who attended her college, there was no backup school. Their lives were changed fully and completely by community college. In the vast, complicated and expensive world of higher education, it was their only, their everything.
You know what saddened me when I worked at the community college? Overhearing or meeting students who sounded apologetic for being there. They had heard the message that community college was not real college, and they listened.
So next time someone shares the news that they’re going to community college, how about this? Tell them they are amazing. Tell them they have taken the first step to being a college graduate and that step can change their life. Tell them you are proud of them.
They deserve it. Because those students? They’re as real as the colleges they plan to attend.