CHOOSING SOME COLLEGE

Transcription

1 CHAPTER TWENTY THREE CHOOSING SOME COLLEGE Two just-awakened campers watched the rapid approach of an obviously hungry brown bear with increasing alarm. The first camper suddenly dressed and began lacing up his tennis shoes. Are you crazy? the other camper asked. You can t outrun brown bears they can run up to 40 miles an hour. I don t have to outrun him, said the first camper. I just have to outrun you. Between a high school diploma and a four-year college degree is a level of education called some college. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that 46 million jobs (31% of all U.S. jobs) are held by persons with some college. Workers holding some college jobs either: Earned a two-year associate s degree from a community or technical college, Earned a two-year applied associate s degree from a community or technical college, Earned a certificate requiring anywhere from three months to two years from a community college, technical college, vocational institutes, or trade school, or Dropped out of a four-year university program or one of the above programs before successfully completing it. The message of this chapter is this: If the odds are or higher that your child may not finish a four-year degree, he may be money ahead getting a two-year degree with concentrated skills in a specific area or a specialized certification. He will have a much easier entry into the job market with specific skill training, increased likelihood of higher income, and significantly less debt as he starts his economic work life.

2 204 Extraordinary Parents: Kindergarten to College Associate Degrees There are more than twenty different types of two-year associate degrees, often collectively referred to as AA s: Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Science (AS), Associate of Technology (AT), etc. You can access the websites of the 1,100 community and technical colleges sorted by state from a single website at AA degrees more closely track the general requirements of traditional majors at major universities. When your student completes her AA degree, she can generally transfer it intact to an in-state university, which means the four-year university will generally accept all of her credits and she will basically have junior class standing. 1 In contrast, if she transfers early, perhaps only a single credit short of her AA, she might find that the university has arbitrarily denied 20-35% of her credits in the transfer based on non-equivalent course descriptions. The issue is rarely whether your student has actually mastered the curriculum. Post-secondary education institutions are in the business of exchanging credits for money. The same arbitrary transfer-of-credit denial that occurs between community colleges and four-year institutions may occur when transferring between national and regional trade school programs as well. This is truly an area of buyer beware. In the event of early transfer, your daughter may want to explore enrolling in the four-year university without transferring the credits, take the missing courses at the university, transfer those credits back to the community college (thus completing the AA degree), and then transfer the AA degree intact to the university. All the credits the university would have denied to your student based on the transcript analysis (and depending on your state system) may now be allowed to her when she transfers her AA. Students earn 486,300 associate degrees from community and technical colleges each year. Their completion rate is abysmal, hovering between 14.3% and 17%. Less than 11% receive associates degrees. 2 In other words, relatively few students earn a two-year associate degree. 1 It is important to check regulations of your state as not all states require this inter-school cooperation. 2 Phillippe and Sullivan, National Profile of Community Colleges, Data are for the years See also Laura Horn and Stephanie Nevill, (2006). Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Education Institutions: : With a Special Analysis of Community College Students (National Center for Educational Statistics Publication No ), retrieved on May 27, 2009, from vii Table B, for

3 Choosing Some College 205 Community College Completion Rates 1. Typical annual enrollment at all community colleges 10,133, Less non-degree/non-certificateseeking attendees (12%) -1,216, Certificate- or degree-seeking students 8,917, Full-time two-year equivalent students 4,458, Associate degrees awarded annually (11%) 486, Certificates awarded annually: Less than one year 133,249 One to two years 94,724 More than two, less than four 8,026 Annual certificates awarded (5%) 235, Total AA and certificates awarded annually 722, Completion rate as a percentage of degree/certificate-seeking students in a two-year program (line 7/line 4) 16.2% Figure Community college completion of certification and associate degree programs as a percentage of degree/certificate-seeking students assuming a two-year completion rate for all programs. 12% not committed and Table 14, p. 33 for 14.3% attaining credential. See footnote 1 Horn and Nevill s work at Table 14, page 33 for the lower 14.3% completion percentage. The 11% associate degrees awarded is calculated by dividing the 486,293 AA s granted by 8,917,809 certificate- or degree-seeking students.

4 206 Extraordinary Parents: Kindergarten to College Figure 23.2 shows about five million relatively well-paying jobs held by workers who earned an AA degree and who indicated on the Department of Labor surveys that their associate s degree was their primary source of training. What you should get from this chart is this: whereas the jobs in the high school or less have average annual compensation ranging from $15,000 to $30,000, and the building craft jobs annual compensation ranges from $31,000 to $40,000, the annual compensation for these AA jobs are in the $35,000 to $50,000 range (see column 7 on each of the figures). The additional compensation should give your child substantial motivation to navigate his way through the common pitfall of completing an AA. Your student will initially be required to take a test, like the Compass or ASSET (not the ACT or SAT), which is usually used to determine placement and rarely used to deny admission. If he scores below the locally determined cut-off scores, he will be required to take remedial English, math, or writing classes. That is, a red, orange, yellow, green and sometimes blue band student may have to take remedial classes as a prerequisite to taking college-level coursework. You and he will pay college tuition to take remedial classes on the college campus for which he gets no college credit. Nationally, 43 out of every 100 incoming community college students are required to take one or more remedial classes. The first year, 34 take remedial math classes, 13 take remedial writing classes, and 13 take remedial reading classes. During the second year, 29 are still taking additional remedial math classes, 13 are taking additional remedial writing classes, and 10 are taking additional remedial reading classes. 3 These additional classes assure that at least 43% of students will not complete two-year programs in two years. You should plan to avoid this trap. A thoughtful strategy is to have your student take the ASSET as a high school sophomore or junior to get an advanced look at his proficiency levels. Based on that information, he (and you) may save a lot of money if he takes higher levels English and math during his high school junior and especially math his senior year to avoid the remediation in college. This unexpected remediation creates another twist for your student. Under current law, she can qualify for federal grants to attend community colleges for the equivalent of two years. Remediation which 3 Horn and Nevill, Profile of Undergraduates in U.S. Postsecondary Education Institutions p. 137, Table 6.2.

5 Choosing Some College 207 extends her program only beyond two years may create an unforeseen funding crisis. Figure 23.2 Jobs where an associate s degree is listed as the primary source of training by those holding the job. Numbers of available jobs are listed in descending order (column 1, far left), percent of jobs held by workers with some college (column 2), the common job description (column 3), the hourly income for the bottom 10%, the middle 50%, and the top 90% (columns 4-6), and

6 208 Extraordinary Parents: Kindergarten to College Applied Associate Degrees A specialized kind of two-year degree is the applied associate degree. In the 1980s and 1990s, community colleges began to seriously compete with trade schools in offering vocational training with extended length and breadth. These programs provide hands-on coursework but less English, math, and social studies than in regular AA programs. The reduced English requirements may have a minor impact on job performance and the eliminated math might never be used. Few jobs utilize math beyond Algebra I. The good news is that these degrees tend to be tailored for locally available jobs, increasing your child s entry level skills and probability of immediate employability. The bad news is that your child cannot transfer one of these degrees to a four-year institution. The degrees can be upgraded but only by taking additional English, writing, and math classes with no credit for the additional applied coursework. Figure 23.3 shows typical community course offerings with tuition, length of training in semesters, and estimated cost of supplies. The particular community college shown in Figure 23.3 offers no three-month certifications (one semester) but does offer multi-level training in most of its programs. A two-semester program or three-quarter program usually takes nine months like the traditional school year. A seven-quarter program (like the medical laboratory technician program shown here) might start in the fall of a given year and run straight for a year and nine months. Technical colleges and technical institutes provide significantly deeper curriculum offerings than community colleges. One of the best ways to get a sense of the differences is to compare course catalogs. For example: Technical college offerings: Louisiana Technical College Florence Darlington Technical College (SC) Community college course offerings: Clark State Community College (OH) South Texas College

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8 210 Extraordinary Parents: Kindergarten to College Certification Programs Certification programs are relatively short, job-specific vocational training programs offered by trade schools, community, and technical colleges. They lead to Post Secondary Vocational Awards (PSVAs) that result in entry-level, marketable skills. Figure 23.4 (right) lists jobs where PSVAs were listed as the primary source of training. Your child could complete some of these programs in as little as three months. Many take a year, and a few require up to two or more years of training. Nationwide, students earn 235,999 of these certificates each year. Some 133,000 are for programs of less than one year, 95,000 are for courses of study lasting one to two years, and 8,000 are for coursework more than two but less than four years long. In the business field, these programs build basic competency in bookkeeping, accounting, and data entry. In the medical, automotive, computer, crafts, real estate, and hair and beauty areas, these programs either fulfill state-required coursework requirements or prepare your student to take and pass a licensing examination. The medical field uses certified technicians to draw blood, administer particular screenings, take X-rays, operate diagnostic equipment, or run lab tests. Their job titles frequently include the terms technician, licensed practical, or licensed vocational. In the legal profession, court reporters must pass tests showing that they have acquired the competence to take rapid verbatim transcripts of depositions and court proceedings. Beauticians, in most states, acquire skills such as dyeing and cutting hair, performing manicures and pedicures, and applying acrylic nails functions generally governed by state-required licenses. In the building industry, crafts like electrical, pipefitting, steam fitting, and welding are governed by state regulations, while carpentry, dry walling, and concrete work are controlled primarily by the trade unions, if at all. Trade schools often specialize in a single cluster of skills like beauty or business, while community and technical colleges provide a broader range of training options. In general, the providers of computer certifications are still major computer companies. Income of those who earn a certificate is something of a mixed bag. Given the short duration of these programs and the step-up in compensation, certification programs provide a great return on investment for a small amount of additional training and cost beyond a high school diploma. In terms of pay, these positions generally fit

9 211 Figure Jobs where PSVAs were listed as the primary source of training. Numbers of available jobs listed in descending order (column 1, far left) percent of jobs held by workers with some college (column 2), the common job description (column 3), the hourly income for the bottom 10%, the middle 50%, and the top 90% (columns 6-8), and median annual income (column 9).

10 212 Extraordinary Parents: Kindergarten to College between the unskilled and the crafts although certified jobs requiring higher levels of skill like real estate agent and commercial pilot bring what we have seen elsewhere: higher skill levels, higher pay. Unlike the educational categories of high school or less and college or more, the some college jobs are spread more evenly across the ten industry categories. Office and administrative support 44% Installation, maintenance, and repair 37% Sales and related occupations 32% Service occupations 31% Management, business, and financial 28% Production occupations 25% Transportation and material moving 25% Construction and extraction 23% Farming, fishing, and forestry 12% Whether your child gets an AA, an Applied AA, or a certificate, he will experience the two-tiered demographics of community college and trade school systems. Because these institutions also serve as our society s second-chance safety net in postsecondary education, they serve a population of students who are often much older, less financially well off, more ethnically diverse, and less likely to complete their programs than the average freshman class at a four-year university. Many students are over 25 years old (45%), on their own financially (61%), enrolled part time (66%), have delayed enrollment (50%), work full time while enrolled (41%), have dependents (35%), are single parents (17%), or have a GED or no high school diploma (12%). Most (86%) community college students fit into at least one of these at-risk categories, and the average number of risk factors per students is Those who complete an AA and transfer to a four-year university face an additional 15-33% decreased likihood of completion compared with direct enrollees, a common sense result given the increased risk factors. 5 The good news is that those who finished a certificate or an AA degree have invested less and are getting a better return than those who drop out of postsecondary education. They will have a much easier entry into the job market with specific skill training, increased likelihood of higher income, and significantly less debt. 4 Phillippe and Sullivan, National Profile of Community Colleges M. Alfonso (2006) The impact of community college attendance on baccalaureate attainment. Research in Higher Education, Vol. 47, and E. Pascarella, and P. Terenzini (2005). How college affects students (vol. 2): A third decade of research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.