Technical colleges in Texas are working on a plan to link all funding to graduates’ employment and earnings. Job training is the mission of the two-year public colleges.
Skipping university was ‘smartest decision’
April 16, 2012 By
An excellent student from a blue-collar family in Canada, Kathy Shaidle thinks not going to university was “one of the smartest decisions of my life.” With a two-year media degree from a community college, she launched a successful career and “paid off my relatively puny student loans in short order.”
‘You didn’t finish high school? Start college!’
March 29, 2012 By
“You didn’t graduate from high school? Start college today!” With that slogan, a low-income, nearly all Hispanic Texas school district is persuading dropouts to enroll in a center that lets them start job training while finishing high school, transitioning to college courses when ready. By the end of ninth grade, all students can choose a career pathway and take “early college” classes.
Wanted: College-educated workers
March 28, 2012 By
Despite the rise in college graduates — 38.5 percent of working-age adults have an associate degree or more – employers will need 23 million more college-educated workers by 2025, predicts a Lumina Foundation study. But does producing more graduates guarantee productivity and prosperity?
Community colleges are “where the workers come from.”
Fewer women study STEM
March 23, 2012 By
Despite high demand for workers with technical skills, fewer women are earning certificates and associate degrees in science, technology, engineering and math at community colleges, concludes a new report. Less than 2 percent of engineers with four-year degrees are out of work.
Are community colleges doomed to be the Wal-Marts of higher education?
Make high school matter for non-collegebound
March 15, 2012 By
We must make high school matter for students who aren’t collegebound, writes James Stone on Shanker Blog, weighing in on the “snob” debate.
Instead of ever-increasing academic requirements, disengaged students need “rigorous, world-class technical education” linked to the labor market.
. . . in Georgetown, KY, Toyota has worked with local education systems to create a compelling, rigorous and relevant manufacturing career pathway—one that takes students from high school to the local community college to four-year college programs in engineering or manufacturing management and the promise of employment with Toyota.
Retooled Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs should “include intensive career development opportunities that begin no later than middle school,” internships, apprenticeships and “curricula that integrate academic knowledge with technical skills,” Stone writes.
College grads earn 8% to 11% less
March 15, 2012 By
Female college graduates earn 7.6 percent less than they did 10 years ago, while their male counterparts make 11 percent less, according to the Economic Policy Institute, which looked at entry-level wages.
What do you think? asks The Onion.
“It’s not like 2002, when a guy could graduate from a liberal arts college and just watch the money roll in,” says Jenn Serreo.
Unfunny fact: High school-educated men in entry-level jobs have taken a 25 percent earnings hit from 1970 to 2011, reports EPI.
Learning from for-profit colleges
March 13, 2012 By
Nonprofit higher education can learn from for-profit colleges how to meet the needs of working adults, writes an analyst. For-profits’ two-year-or-less career programs have high graduation rates compared to community colleges.
Community colleges are doing developmental (remedial) education differently. They couldn’t do any worse.
Chicago plans six-year tech high schools
March 9, 2012 By
Chicago will open five new six-year high schools that will let students complete “grade 14″ with an associate degree and high-tech job skills. IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Motorola Solutions and Verizon will develop curricula, mentor students, provide summer internships and guarantee a “first-in-line” job interview after graduation.
Also on Community College Spotlight: Dual enrollment classes let a wide range of students — not just high achievers — earn college and high school credits at the same time. Does it raise the odds of college success?
What about liberal arts?
March 7, 2012 By
President Obama wants community colleges to become workforce training centers, writes a dean. What about liberal arts? What about higher education?
College isn’t just for snobs. Workers need high-level skills — and a credential — to get a decent job.
Recent Comments