‘Waste of time’: Community college transfers derail students

A lot of people who go to CC aren't aiming to get a bachelor's degree. Some are there to just get an associate's degree, to get a professional accreditation, or just taking classes for fun.

Or to get their VA benefits.....
 
There is much more pressure to pass students and get them a degree than to weed them out. Student success and retention is now part of the accreditation process.

Actually there isn’t. There is no shortage of students to take their spots so the entire freshman year is specifically designed to weed out the kids who can’t cut it.

University is a business and they need to maximize profits
 
Mention troll and the asshole Lionfish shows up.

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Actually there isn’t. There is no shortage of students to take their spots so the entire freshman year is specifically designed to weed out the kids who can’t cut it.

University is a business and they need to maximize profits

The more students they get (and retain) the more money the states gives the schools. It would serve no purpose to weed out students just to replace them with other students. A senior is funded at a much higher rate than freshmen so it is in their interest to retain them. Many states make retention and graduation rates a part of the funding process.

Counselors guide students having problems to easier professors and classes. If a major includes classes that are more difficult or unpopular (math, foreign language) that department will drop those classes from graduation requirements. The more difficult teachers often face problems with scheduling, being rehired......
 
The more students they get (and retain) the more money the states gives the schools. It would serve no purpose to weed out students just to replace them with other students. A senior is funded at a much higher rate than freshmen so it is in their interest to retain them. Many states make retention and graduation rates a part of the funding process.

Counselors guide students having problems to easier professors and classes. If a major includes classes that are more difficult or unpopular (math, foreign language) that department will drop those classes from graduation requirements. The more difficult teachers often face problems with scheduling, being rehired......

That’s the key word “retain”. They don’t want students who are going to drop out in their third year so they want to get rid of them quickly
 
I wonder if any of these one in seven who takes multiple years to complete their degree are like my son, who chose to pursue his degree while working full time.....I would add he graduated cum laude while working mandatory overtime and taking three 3 credit hour classes in his final semester.....#proudofhim......
 
K-12 education prepares nobody for life in the modern world.

This is obvious to any mentally capable person, but preserving inaccess to education is preferable
to certain parasitic elements of our ludicrously imperfect society.

College isn't to weed anybody out.

College is to broaden the vistas of the mind
for those who did the adequate pre-college preparation.

For those not inclined toward that, however,
other kinds of post K-12 education are nevertheless a requisite.
 
University makes a good sum of money from graduates who either donate money or resources. They are looking for students who are going to finish their 4 years.
 
VA benefits aren't generous enough that you are going to profit off them. They pay for the classes and related materials (like textbooks) but that's about it.

I knew many guys going to college because of the benefits. Some got a degree and some did not. If they had some disability they got additional VA benefits.
 
That’s the key word “retain”. They don’t want students who are going to drop out in their third year so they want to get rid of them quickly

I certainly agree colleges do a lot to make money, but it makes no sense to get rid of them. If they are doing well they won't drop out in their third year, so you make sure they pass. Then, you have a full college of students every year.

When I was in college I heard students talking about "flunk out" courses, but I never found that to be true. And, after 40 years of higher ed teaching I saw just the opposite occurring. Faculty who taught elective courses made them easy to attract students. I saw faculty members not rehired because they were too difficult. I never saw one fired because they were too easy. Hard teachers get too many student complaints.
 
FFS, if it takes them more than 2 1/2 years to get a fucking associates degree they sure aren't getting one after 5.

I can't say that, as I know people who started Community College when I did, and ended up going into the Service or got pregnant etc.

I know people who attended college off and on for over 20 years, before they got a degree.
 
A lot of people who go to CC aren't aiming to get a bachelor's degree. Some are there to just get an associate's degree, to get a professional accreditation, or just taking classes for fun.

That’s what I did. When I retired from the military, I wanted to be a yacht designer. The VA wouldn’t cover any of the correspondence courses out there, so I had to go to the local 4 year university which offered a degree in naval architecture (they design ships and systems, including weapon systems, versus yachts and small boats). The counselor told me I was looking at a year of remedial mathematics at the very least, more likely 2 years because I needed ALL the high school algebra plus the trigonometry and calculus. Then came the course itself, which usually took even the best students 5 years to complete. Not to mention it was horrendously expensive. So I decided to make yacht design a wonderful hobby, took algebra II, and found that it was enough to qualify me for an associate’s in industrial technology management, which in turn when combined with my military experience and education, qualified me for a vocational teacher’s certificate. You gotta make college work for YOU.

Still designing yachts occasionally, it’s a shitload of fun.
 
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