Second Chance Students Not Second Rate, Author Says

Community college students get a bad rap, and according to UCLA Professor Mike Rose, author of Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education, the negative perceptions about these students couldn’t be farther from the reality.

For one, Rose points out that community colleges are often seen as the educational path of last resort—and the students who attend them have wrongfully gained a reputation of not ambitious enough, or even capable enough, to attend a four-year college.

But in reality, after interviewing a number of people who have attended community colleges, Rose found that these students just take a different route toward their education than those who immediately go to four-year schools. In many cases, these students are older, and have families to support and bills to pay. These kinds of characteristics should earn community college students more respect, not less, says Rose.

In addition, despite the notion that attending a four-year college right out of high school is the norm, Rose notes that it is becoming less common. In fact, nowadays, about 45 percent of college students do not enroll in college right after completing high school.

Why Community Colleges Get a Bad Rap

The false perceptions about community college students can be traced back to commonly held misconceptions about the institutions themselves. Although the Obama administration has hailed the virtue of community colleges, and is working to increase the amount of college graduates around the country—including those who attend community colleges—these schools are still seen in a negative light based on ideas that do not at all prove true.

Some of the myths that continue to circulate about community colleges include that they:

- are only for non-professional students who are seeking vocational skills

- appeal only to students who could not get admitted into a four-year college or those who attempted to attend a four-year school and could not make the grade

- do not produce graduates who end up having successful careers

- only cater to older students who work in non-skilled careers

While these perceptions about community college abound, they are not supported by the facts. Statistics show that community colleges appeal to students who are recent high school graduates—in addition to their older counterparts—and they often go on to attend four-year schools and pursue successful professional careers. In fact, when these students do decide to transfer to four-year colleges, studies show that they are actually given favorable consideration by admissions departments at these institutions—not treated like the second-class citizens that the negative hype would suggest they are.

And for those students who decide to end their education after receiving an associate’s degree, they often find that they have a leg up in the workforce because they have attained a combination of academic learning and real-world skills that employers are looking for.

With the rising costs of higher education, community colleges have now become an affordable option for students who may not be able to further their education otherwise. And despite the stigma, students who attend these schools receive a quality education and get the preparation that they need to further their studies and excel in the careers of their choice.

Have you attended a community college? What has been your experience since leaving?