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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PENALTY AND TRANSFER BARRIERS

The Community College Penalty and Transferring Issues

Corbin A. Tyson

Northern Illinois University

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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PENALTY AND TRANSFER BARRIERS

Introduction

Every year within the United States, there are college students who make the

decision to attend college at either a community college, technical school, four-year

public institution, four-year private non-profit, a four-year private for-profit institution, or

consider options to complete degree programs with expanded online offerings.

Students from diverse backgrounds come with experiences, beliefs and feelings that

influence the type of institution they attend such as: socioeconomic status, basic

knowledge of college, relationships with family, and social capital among other reasons

(Temple, 2009). Institutional rankings and characteristics of particular college also had

input into a student’s choice of college (Renn et al, 2013b). Community college is a

popular option for individuals coming out of high school as well as non-traditional

students

For many students, attending a community college is a common route for

educational attainment for many reasons and can be an appealing alternative compared

to attending a four-year public or private institution. Community colleges are often

found in close proximity to a student’s home since 95% of the United States population

is within commuting distance (Bahr et al., 2016). Many other proclaimed benefits of

attending include the opportunity of flexible schedules that supplement complicated

work schedules, smaller classroom sizes which include personalized attention that

would not be available at four-year institutions, and promise guaranteed credit transfers

on select courses through articulation initiatives. The most critical reason why many

students choose two-year colleges is because these institutions market themselves as

a frugal or affordable way to attain general education degrees that are designed to be
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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PENALTY AND TRANSFER BARRIERS

transferred. In 2012, the median per year in-state tuition for community colleges in the

United States was $2,704 compared to $7,175 for public four-year institutions (Bahr et

al., 2016; Syder et al., 2012).

Although two-year community colleges boast their perceived benefits, they are

flawed institutions that have issues that need to be addressed. One of the main matters

related to community college has been branded the “community college penalty”

(Lichtenberger et al., 2013). This term is used to describe evidence that suggests

students who transfer from community college to a four-year institution will be less likely

to complete their bachelor’s degree on time or at all (Alfonso, 2006; Doyle, 2009; Long

& Kurlaender, 2009; Sandy, Gonzales & Hilmer, 2006). This report will analyze the

historical context of community college, the issues that surround community college and

barriers of transferring, as well as potential strategies to counter these issues.

Historical Context

1900’s to 1920’s

The role of community colleges has transformed throughout time and as a result

of the changing needs of the communities and college students they serve. The term

first used to describe community colleges was “junior colleges” (Thelin, 2011c). Within

higher education in the early 1900’s, some university officials believed their institutions

had the ability to function for the entire states they were in (Thelin, 2011c). Expanding

populations in the United States presented a societal demand for more trained teachers

and more young adults graduating from high school (Bahr et al, 2016). Unfortunately,

universities were unable to service a whole state’s educational needs with only one sole
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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PENALTY AND TRANSFER BARRIERS

campus. This had lead into the opportunity for hundreds of junior colleges to be created

(Thelin, 2011c). In 1901, Joliet Community College located in Joliet, Illinois was the first

junior college founded in the United States (American Association of Community

College, n.d.; Behr et al., 2016)

Initially, the scope of the smaller two-year schools were to attend the needs of

their nearby communities that were not within reach of universities (Bahr et al., 2016).

They served their communities when they offered a foundational liberal arts curriculum

that can be substituted for the first two years of experience in four-year institution (Bahr

et al., 2016; Diener, 1985; Thelin, 2011c). Some junior colleges focused on technical

classes, teacher preparation, or were colleges that exclusively served women (Bahr et

al., 2016; Cohen et al., 1985). Remedial education was also a primary consideration for

junior colleges since there was a concern that secondary education was not preparing

students for four-year universities (Behr et al., 2016).

1920s to 1970s

During the Great Depression, many four-year institutions had to drastically raise

tuition prices during a time when unemployment rates increased and banks had been

closed (Thelin, 2011). This national tuition hike may have made community college

appear inexpensive in comparison. By 1940, junior colleges had grown to over 400

institutions (Behr et al., 2016; Thelin, 2011c) and served nearly 150,000 students

nationally (Thelin, 2011c). After World War II, community colleges needed to be

equipped to handle a rush of non-tradition student enrollment since the GI Bill provided

financial assistance to returning war veterans (Behr at al., 2016). This forced
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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PENALTY AND TRANSFER BARRIERS

community colleges to be stressed thin when trying to accommodate students who

looked for vocational skills while also still making their other services available at the

same quality (Thelin, 2011).

All the additional services that have been added into the resources junior

colleges offered transitioned junior colleges into “community colleges” where there were

multiple options of different studies available to diverse ranges of students (Thelin,

2011c). Into the 1960s, the expanded services that were available attracted more

students who were not interested in transferring to four-year institutions which impacted

the percentage of transfer student enrollment at universities (Thelin, 2011c). Most of

the student populations at community colleges had consisted of first-generation college

students (Thelin, 2011c), a term used to describe students who did not have family

members attend college in the past.

1970s to 1985

Remedial educational programs at community colleges became increasingly

more important as more high school students continued to graduate (Thelin, 2011c).

Some community college staff became upset at secondary education for not preparing

students for higher education, but most public community colleges enforced an “open

admission” (Behr et al., 2016; Thelin, 2011c). Behr et al. (2016) describes an “open

admissions” policy is:

More broadly, the ‘open admissions’ policies of community colleges are

inclusive of individuals who have been away from school for a time, those
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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PENALTY AND TRANSFER BARRIERS

who are not seeking post-secondary credentials, those who already hold

post-secondary degrees, and “traditional age” credential seeking students

who recently graduated from high school or transferred from another post-

secondary institution. (Bahr et al., 2016, p. 472)

This admission policy has been designed specifically to lower barriers for degree

attainment and has opened the possibility for students who might be low-income,

first-generation, culturally diverse, or come from backgrounds with low social

capital.

As states had declining revenues, community colleges had gone through

continued critiques further into the 1970’s and 1980’s. Many public two-year

colleges had to reconsider prioritizing serving students who are marginalized or

underserved compared to vocational education (Thelin, 2011a). Supporters for

community colleges advocated for the continuance or servicing both of these

groups.

Contemporary Issues

Community colleges are always growing in enrollment and the number of

students transferring from the two-year colleges to four-year institutions has greatly

increased (Adelman, 2006; Renn et al., 2011c, Sandy et al., 2006). Despite this,

community college receive less funding and support than public four-year institutions

(Behr et al., 2016). One of the main issues for community colleges is the “community

college penalty” (Lichtenberger et al., 2013) which takes many forms.

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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PENALTY AND TRANSFER BARRIERS

Community colleges have a low initial cost, but there is research that argues that

graduated students who transferred from two-year community colleges only have

$2,221 less in loans compared to students who began college at four-year institutions

(Hu et al., 2017). Community college students also have low persistence rates (Sandy

et al., 2005), delayed graduation rates, and less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree

program (Hu et al., 2017). There is evidence say that since community college

resources have been spread thin by offering multitudes of different services, this has

caused a lower quality education which has caused a community college penalty to

students who wish to transfer to four-year universities (Sandy et al., 2005).

Addressing Issues through Strategies

Through this analysis, community colleges present some persisting issues

through its historical context and contemporary relevance. Persistence and delayed

graduation have been a historical issue for all community college students. Being able

to create initiatives that are modeled after four-year institution programs and resources

might help. Renn et al. (2013) describes some of the college transitional resources and

programs that could be helpful: living-learning communities in residence halls on

campus, first-year seminars, and comprehensive support programs (i.e. TRIO or the

Posse Foundation).

Another interesting method of addressing some community college issues could

be to design a more engaged academic advising program.

Academic Advising Program

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Academic Advising is a crucial component to any higher education institution,

including two- and four-year colleges. Trained academic advisors can provide

specialized advice that successfully guide students into an academic plan that suits the

student. Creating a new academic advising program for community colleges may help

improve persistence rates and reduce delayed graduation dates. There is evidence that

academic advising has positive relationship with student development and student

satisfaction (Pargett, 2011).

First, community colleges should arrange caseloads of 250 to 350 students per

advisor to allow enough personalized attention is made to every student. It is likely that

state and governments will need to allocate more funds to ensuring enough advisors

are accessible to students. Local communities could see a return on investment if two-

year graduation increase as well as the students go to a four-year institution and then

possibly return to the community’s workforce. This plan suggests that community

colleges should create a degree requirement to have regularly meetings with an

academic advisor every semester to ensure a student is engaged in their college

experience. The program is optional to students and would be designed for traditional

full-time students who desire to transfer to a four-year institution in four semesters.

Required academic advisor appointments are a common practice when first

enrolling in a college as well as a graduation program audit but is not common to be

required every semester. These regular advising meeting would be used for advisors to

monitor progress by identifying struggling students, discuss class registration,

transferring institution requirements, graduation requirements and any advice or

resources a student might need for academic success. For students who are
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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PENALTY AND TRANSFER BARRIERS

undecided on their choice of majors, advisors can provide resources that can help guide

a student to find classes and potential majors they may be interested in. This academic

advising program has the potential to keep students engaged within the program,

assisted and referred to other campus resources when they need help in class, and on

a path to degree completion.

Conclusion

In conclusion, junior colleges and community colleges have had many flaws

throughout its historical context and continue to exist today. These public two-year

schools had been founded on the idea of being able to provide a foundational education

to college students for them to transfer to larger four-year institutions. Despite this

being the first important goal, history has shown that community colleges have been

looked to, to provide open admissions, remedial education for underperforming high

school graduates, vocational skills for students who did not wish to transfer, as well as

be a means for older students to be lifelong learners.

There is also evidence to suggest that community college students who transfer

will have a delayed graduation date compared to their peers who did not transfer (Hu et

al., 2017; Long et al., 2009). It is clear that these issues need to be addressed by state

governments and higher education professionals, but community colleges still have

valuable roles within the communities they serve.

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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE PENALTY AND TRANSFER BARRIERS

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