Monday
January 5, 2009
Advertisement
News, Views and Careers for All of Higher Education
Nov. 12
Gates Foundation to Spend Big on Community Colleges
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced plans Tuesday to focus its time — and hundreds of millions of new dollars — on college completion, particularly at community colleges.
Related stories
- Grants from Gates, on College Completion, Dec. 9
- What to Measure and Reward at Community Colleges, Feb. 25, 2008
- 2 Kinds of Part-Time Students, June 28, 2007
- Community Colleges and Graduation Rates, March 22, 2007
- Access and Success — Is it Either/Or?, Feb. 2, 2007
The plans represent a dramatic expansion of the foundation’s already considerable work in education and could evolve into an unprecedented philanthropic focus on community colleges.
In announcing the plans, at a meeting with education leaders held in Seattle, foundation leaders spoke with passion not only about the importance of higher education, but about the poor graduation and retention rates at many institutions. “America has long known about the value of a college education — but a fair-minded critic might say: ‘You don’t know the half of it! You’re working to get more students into college; you should also be doing a lot more to get them through college,’ ” said Melinda Gates, in prepared remarks outlining the college plans.
“For the last 40 years, the U.S. has been encouraging enrollment and access — with federal aid like Pell Grants and guaranteed student loans. That’s important, and it has helped. More young people enrolled in college this year than ever before,” she said. “But the payoff doesn’t come with enrolling in college; the payoff comes when a student gets a postsecondary degree that helps them get a job with a family wage – and that’s not happening nearly enough. The college completion rate in America has been flat since the 1970s. We were once first in the world in postsecondary completion rates, we now rank tenth. That’s a danger for the nation’s economy, and it’s a tragedy for our citizens.”
As a result, she said that the foundation’s work in education would focus on “not just college enrollment, but college completion.” The foundation plans two major efforts in the years ahead, she noted. One will focus on helping more disadvantaged students finish high school so that college is a possibility for them. The other will focus on college completion. The emphasis will be on community colleges, she said.
“These are the schools that enroll the majority of low-income students,” Gates said. “Most community colleges have open admission, low tuition rates, and with 1,200 of them around the country, most people live near one. Community colleges have untapped potential for getting students the credentials they need to earn a living wage.”
The foundation plans four major parts for its giving related to college completion:
- Shifts in financial aid policy. Gates said that the foundation is “going to explore how the huge amount of financial aid in this country could be used as an incentive to encourage completion. This will include working with partners to develop changes in tuition and government funding so the college gets less money at the front end, just for enrolling a student, and more at the back end, after that student receives a diploma or credential.”
- Changing student incentives. The foundation plans to look for ways to structure scholarships to “provide greater financial incentive to finish school.” Gates said that pilot studies financed already suggest the value of “giving students scholarships if they increase their course load to full-time dramatically increases completion rates.” The foundation plans to try this type of scholarship over the next three years in as many as 8 states and 15 postsecondary institutions.
- Building partnerships. The fund wants to promote better communication between colleges and local employers so programs are designed to meet local needs and students know the preparation they need to get jobs.
- Improving remedial education. Gates said that the foundation would “push for improvements that accelerate academic catch-up for students who are behind. Only one-third of all students enrolled in remedial education ever pass the exam and go on to earn college credits. One-third! The rest get bogged down in remediation and quit.”
While Melinda Gates presented the plans Tuesday about improving completion rates at community colleges, Bill Gates spoke about new efforts to improve high schools. The foundation has already focused on high schools and he said that there have been impressive results in many individual schools supported, but limited success in spreading those ideas widely. In his prepared remarks, Gates said that the new effort would focus on school structures, clear standards, and improved teaching and support for teachers.
The underlying philosophy will be to significantly increase the numbers of disadvantaged students ready for college, he said. “Every student is capable of a college-ready curriculum.”
Want it on paper? Print this page.
Know someone who’d be interested? Forward this story.
Want to stay informed? Sign up for free daily news e-mail.
Advertisement
Comments
I hope that the program builds in some measure to determine that the students who complete the various programs actually learned enough to be awarded a degree or certificate.
Will the program have some sort of baseline?
james Cebula, at 8:25 am EST on November 12, 2008
Long overdue — thank you
With experiences from K-PhD, including CCs — this is way overdue. The dorms at CCs are proof-positive, the main goal of underclasswoman/underclassman education is mostly to “get out of the ‘rents’ house and party our brains out.” That is patently questionable, costly, and unsustainable.
There is just too much ESPN and booze, and not enough focus on productive educational outcomes. Just look on Facebook or YouTube.
Frank, at 8:25 am EST on November 12, 2008
Completion Rates
Reforms in higher education...Oh Boy another one! Completion rates are not simply rational choices for students. Students have issues of remediation, motivation, jobs, income, families, and on and on almost to infinity. Any reform that simply targets completion rates is misguided and ill informed. In addition, completion rates are not always at the same institution. The internet allows completion at almost any school. Further, some education, even if incomplete, is better than none. Targeting completion rates without careful attention to other factors, will do more harm than good. One must applaud the Gates Foundation for its benevolent motives, but market logic of rational choices simply does not apply—even in the market! Bill Jacobks
Bill Jacobks, Instructor at Muskegon Community College, at 8:50 am EST on November 12, 2008
Adult Learners
One can only hope that part of this funding might target returning adult students by enabling access and their ability to complete degree programs.
Paul Rutter, Penn State, at 10:55 am EST on November 12, 2008
gee, another “leave no college student behind plan.” just like the gov’t, the best way to solve a problem is to throw money at it? Just how much money does this guy have?did you ever stop to think that there is a reason 1/3 of the students get bogged down in remedial? Between this article and the other one on FA, this smacks of FAPE comes to college.........
Greg
Greg, at 11:20 am EST on November 12, 2008
Real Straight Talk from Gates
In response to Bill Jacobs’ skepticism, but in reading Melinda Gates’ comments about this initiative, it really appears that she understands the problem, which is exciting, because it portends some real solutions. Here is a portion of what she said:
“Earlier this year, I had a chance to sit down and talk with a young woman at a public high school in South Los Angeles. She told me she was taking a course to learn how to be manicurist in a salon. That’s a fine choice—if it’s a real choice. But for her, it wasn’t. She was locked in a course of studies that—even if she aced it—would not prepare her to go to college.
I had a look at the curriculum. One lesson involved reading the back of a can of soup in a grocery store and knowing what the contents are. That was her math class.
I haven’t talked to that young woman since then. I don’t know what she’s doing now. But I know what’s likely ahead for her. She will graduate from high school without ever knowing how far behind she is. She may get hired as a manicurist if a job’s available. If not, she will likely get a low-wage job at a fast-food restaurant or at a retail store. But after a while, she may very well say: “This is nowhere; I want to be a nurse and I’m going back to school.”
She will keep her job, because she will need the income, and she will enroll at a community college part-time. She’ll take a placement test for the nursing program, but she’ll score below the cut-off, so she’ll be sent to remedial math and English. It may take her two or even three semesters to be eligible for courses that will count towards her nursing degree. That means that even if she’s doing great, she’s basically still in high school—but paying college tuition.
Let’s say she makes it through remediation and moves into courses that start counting towards her degree. She may find that some of the required courses aren’t offered at a time she can take them, or even offered that semester at all. It may take her five years to get a two-year degree.
Most likely though, she won’t get a degree at all. She’ll get frustrated and quit. She’ll leave not with a diploma, but with a book of loan payment coupons. And her job prospects won’t be any better than they were before.
Multiply this by millions and we begin to get the picture. If we’re going to make any dent on poverty in America, we have to help more students get a postsecondary degree.”http://www.gatesfoundation.org/sp...tes-2008-education-forum-speech.aspx
Phil, at 11:20 am EST on November 12, 2008
Phil nailed it
The material Phil posted above addresses the crux of the matter at the CC’s where I’ve taught and now teach. We take in anyone with a pulse and enough desire to get to campus (sometimes online). Often these students need a year or more to qualify for college level math and English (both reading and writing). This means they can run out of financial aid before completing their first two years.
To the one poster above concerned about measures, while it probably won’t be satisfactory, those who earn an Associate degree, at least in the state of Washington, earn a BA at a comparable rate to those who begin their education at a four-year school.
And I don’t know about other CC’s around the country, but we don’t have dorms where students hang out and party and watch ESPN or MTV. Except for the few athletes who are housed near campus, our students commute from somewhere in town, which is how it’s been for every CC I’ve taught for. There seem to be quite a few faulty impressions about CC’s out there.
bradley bleck, instructor at Spokane Falls CC, at 11:45 am EST on November 12, 2008
Money for Completing College
I suggest that students be offered the option of a loan which would convert to a scholarship upon degree completion, possibly at a declining percentage dependent on the student takes to complete the degree. Thus, a student who completed community college in two years might find 100% of the loan converted to a scholarship, while every additional semester reduced the percent by one fourth, so a student who completed in three years (six semesters instead of four) would receive a 50% conversion of the loan to scholarship. This formula funds the student’s education while he/she is enrolled and not only provide an incentive for completion, but an incentive for prompt, quick degree completion.
The same concept could be employed to encourage completion by individuals who are beginning with ESL or developmental courses, but the formula would have to be redesigned, either by being personalized to the plan set up for the individual student or by following a more generalized formula.
CP, C.O., Compliance Officer at Los Angeles City College, at 12:50 pm EST on November 12, 2008
Phil wrote: “Multiply this by millions and we begin to get the picture. If we’re going to make any dent on poverty in America, we have to help more students get a postsecondary degree.”
Phil, your value system is showing! along with Ms Gates. A college degree is not the world panacea. What is wrong with having the dream of being a manicurist? My daughterinlaw started off working in a salon about 15 years ago, now she owns 5 salons and makes over 6 figures. Course she doesn’t live in the Barrio either. The problem here with the example is her environment, not her career choice. It would be far better for the Gates to start relocating folk and supporting them for two years. She could do manicurist school, go through an entrepreneurship program and have fun and make more than a nurse.
Greg
Greg, at 1:25 pm EST on November 12, 2008
Gates opening Gates???
Hooray for community colleges. After reading the article on “Financial Aid Simplification” CC’s most have a nice, warm feeling.
While I do not begrudge any college any money they can find, isn’t the real reason for the “love affair” with CC’s because the tuition is so cheap!
“Bottom Line” thinking is what is driving this phenomenom. It should not be mistaken for academic excellence.
I think that some people expect that ALL students will eventually attend CC’s because they won’t be able to afford anything else.
Does not the excessive attention spent on CC’s exacerbate the problem? Will huge enrollement gains at CC’s not drive up the costs until they will eventually match the 4 yr publics? I think that balance is needed, choice is good, and that cliche about not putting all our eggs in one basket...which is where bottom line thinking drives us...comes to mind.
dundermifflin, at 2:25 pm EST on November 12, 2008
An earlier start would help
Everyone should applaud the focus of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on completion of education beyond high school. What other outcome could have as great an impact on the personal, social, economic and civic quality of life in America.
However, the business case for the strategies suggested at the conference seem shallow. Compelling evidence suggests that more cost-effective investment in college completion should focus on promoting responsibility for planning and preparation among middle school students. These “tipping point” years do far more than some realize to shape students’ planning and preparation for life beyond high school.
An effective intervention at that earlier stage would not only more effectively achieve the college completion goal, but might also help improve upon the disappointing results Mr. Gates reported for the high school improvement efforts.
Quentin Wilson, at 3:05 pm EST on November 12, 2008
The Gates do some pretty cool things with their money (which is nice considering most colleges use their products). I’m pleased they are focusing on remedial education as well. Too many times, remedial students get discouraged because their course credits either don’t count at all or won’t add anything numerically to their transcripts. They don’t quite comprehend the need versus the cost. There needs to be a way to motivate these students who must attend longer than the more traditional students.
kgotthardt, at 3:45 pm EST on November 12, 2008
King has no clothes?
” .. Compelling evidence suggests that more cost-effective investment in college completion should focus on promoting responsibility for planning and preparation among middle school students ..”
Yes .. which would require a D-Day level effort to address K-12 teacher union contracts. Like what is being done in D.C.
Good luck. Reversing gravity would be easier.
Frank, at 4:45 pm EST on November 12, 2008
Okay, Bill Gates is obviously an extremely unusual exception of success sans a college degree, but the topic is ironic and funny given his own dropout status from Harvard.
Suzanne, at 5:20 pm EST on November 12, 2008
Factory conveyer belt?
Seems that since the mid-1800s, great minds have pushed a conveyer belt vision of education: everyone whose birthday falls after July 1 (five years ago) will attend kindergarden in August.
Any child who doesn’t meet even one grade-level requirement will be “held back” from advancing (on the conveyer belt) with their same-age peer group.
This all-or-nothing approach tends to encourage some social promotion (teachers’ unions or not) by soft-hearted teachers or parents who have financial or political clout in the school district.
What do the Gates have to say about social promotion?
What about the middle school kids who must work 15-30 hours per week to help their families pay the rent and buy food? Courtesy promotions to high school?
Probably. At least as long as our schools remain on the conveyer belt system.
How about spending inordinate amounts of individual, one on one time with the gang-bangers and slower kids? Maybe, but probably only until one’s own family comes along or until the spouse threatens divorce because of estrangement.
Throw money at the problem? Maybe, but not just more instructors, because instructors do not like to deal with “counseling issues” in the classroom. Too bad previous administrations have cut money for everything but instruction.
Now I guess lots of the problem kids are no longer our problem. If they have emotional problems, are slow learners, or burn out working nights to keep themselves alive, heck, now those little losers are the problem of the police and corrections dept.
OH! Sorry, now I get it. We’ve been playing “pass-the-buck,” not “improve education for all kids” because “pass-the-buck” costs less and angers fewer conservatives. (conservatives can generally afford the one on one, home-school solution for their own kids) Nevermind.
More counselors and advisors, lower student to teacher ratios, more flexible scheduling, college financial aid for part-time students; what was I thinking?
Dr. F. Gump, at 7:05 pm EST on November 12, 2008
Plan B
CCs are plan B for a lot of students. They don’t all intend to graduate “there". They need a course or certain number of units or a certain class to get in to the school they want to get a degree at. CCs need to do a better job at finding out, at the admissions stage, if they even plan to complete “a program” at that school. I don’t know what percentage of students are in this category, but am thinking it is significant.
As to the Gates plan...., pros and cons. At the same time any attention or funds that could be put into CCs should help their big picture to some degree.
It would help if we really knew how many intend to complete a degree at a CC on their way in the CC door. Then factor that in the analysis.
Fran, San Diego, at 7:05 pm EST on November 12, 2008
Student Retention and Graduation
What we need is money for equipment and supplies for our vocational classes, plus money with which to hire replacements for retired faculty and staff, so we’ll have enough instructors to facilitate a smooth flow of students from class to class, and enough people helping with the clerical and organizational needs of the vocational programs.
Eva Scherb, Sr Office Assistant at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, at 1:55 pm EST on December 5, 2008
Community Colleges
What about the role of the for-profit colleges? Are these addressed in the Gates’ initiative?
DK, at 12:10 pm EST on December 9, 2008
Bill Gates’ support for community colleges
I’m delighted to read about the Gates’ focus on community colleges and their efforts to provide scholarships so that more people who could otherwise not afford college can complete their degrees. The irony will be when those people, financially ready to go to school, can’t find the support services they need to succeed or can’t enroll in a class they need because the college had to cut its budget by 10% or 20%, and the services or classes aren’t available that quarter. Maybe even the entire program was cut. Washington community colleges face this very possibility as they try to prepare for the next round of probable budget cuts due to the state’s six billion dollar deficit.
Grace Rhodes, Director at Shoreline Community College, at 12:45 pm EST on December 9, 2008
Advertisement
Jobs Related to Gates Foundation to Spend Big on Community Colleges
or search for jobs directly.
Assistant Provost for Lifelong Learning
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University seeks an experienced professional to assume leadership of its non-credit enrichment programs for ... see job
Department Head and Associate Professor/Professor
Auburn University
Want to redesign the way Pharmacy is practiced? Lead a multidisiplinary department dedicated to the challenge of creating the ... see job
Director of Compensation and Benefits and HR Consultant
Lansing Community College
Founded in 1957, Lansing Community College serves 40,000 students. A public community college governed by an elected board of ... see job
Coordinator of Assessment and Evaluation
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
The University of Minnesota is a premier employer and a talent magnet attracting leading faculty and staff from around the ... see job
Director, Student Finance
DeVry University
A GREAT JOB IN A GROWING CAMPUS see job
Department Administrator IV
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Founded in 1898, and affiliated with what is now New York-Presbyterian Hospital since 1927, Weill Cornell Medical College ... see job
EOH Dept Chair
University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center-Ninth and Colorado
Posting Description: University of Colorado Denver Department Chair, Environmental and Occupational Health ... see job
Associate Academic Dean II
DeVry University
As one of the largest degree-granting higher education systems in North America, DeVry University provides high-quality, ... see job
Dean of Academic Affairs, the Art Institute of Jacksonville
Miami International University of Art and Design
The Art Institute of Jacksonville, a branch of Miami International University of Art & Design, seeks a strong academic leader ... see job
Research Analyst and Strategist
Lansing Community College
Founded in 1957, Lansing Community College serves 40,000 students. A public community college governed by an elected board of ... see job
Home
| Sign up | Log in
| About us
| Work for Us
| Press Releases
| Rights and permissions
| Contact us
| Advertise
| Partners
| RSS 
| Podcasts
| Links
| Privacy
| My Account
© Copyright 2009 Inside Higher Ed
Wonderful news. This is a major step forward in develping a shift in the learning paradigm for the benefit of our students and our nation.
Daniel M. Asquino, President at Mount Wachusett Community College, at 5:50 am EST on November 12, 2008