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Despite 80% of community college students starting their education with the intention of transferring to a four-year institution, only 31% make it through.
According to experts, around 50,000 high-achieving, low-income community college students aren’t transferring to four-year colleges after finishing their associate's degree. Moreover, 15,000 students in this group have a GPA of 3.7 or higher, painting a story of economic and personal hardship rather than a lack of talent. Enabling these students to take their education to a higher level is a two-pronged approach - lowering the barriers they face and encouraging students at the grassroots level.
In five years’ time, when the impacts of a demographic cliff are being felt across the nation and the enrolment pool continues to shrink, 4-year institutions will be in fierce competition for community college students. Preparing now for that eventuality will give institutions a competitive inroad to maintaining pipelines of students from diverse sources.
The right communication and support can help these students who have paused their education and entice them to get back in the saddle on their way to a bachelor’s degree. These students could fall into two categories: those who have stopped-out and not yet finished their community college degree, or those who have graduated but have not continued their education from there.
But first, it’s essential to understand the barriers that these students face. With the right insights, you can tailor your messaging and enrolment strategy to better meet their needs and connect more effectively.
To have any chance of increasing the number of community college students you receive, it's important to understand the challenges they face in their education. Almost half of the community college students who stop out or fail to continue their education do so because of work commitments. Given the typically lower socio-economic background of 2-year institution attendees, they have to be able to maintain an income and find enough time for study. Managing a work schedule and a study timetable can be very difficult, and for many students, this work takes preference over education.
Community college students are also more likely to have childcare to throw into the list of responsibilities. A study found that 1 in 5 community college students has a child or dependent to look after, and reportedly spends $550 USD a month on childcare.
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For those students who didn't manage to complete their community college degree, the biggest obstacle is often juggling a job and their studies. For this audience group, fixed scheduling is a deal-breaker. Showing empathy around these commitments and highlighting if your classes are on-demand will be highly beneficial for students who are balancing work commitments and achieving their educational ambitions.
The other demand for stopped-out students is looking after children. If you already have a childcare centre on campus, make sure to swing by on your campus tour if you know there are any student parents in the group. Adding to physical visits, targeting student parents online is commonplace, and should allow for straightforward personalisation when getting the message about your childcare support across.
While free tuition is a nice idea, it's simply not possible to offer it to all students. However, there is incremental support which can be offered to help ease financial concerns. Of the students surveyed by The New America think tank, 44% said free textbooks and course materials could nudge them to return to higher education. Not a big ask, but evidently every little bit counts. Dropping application fees for these students will also lower the barriers for them to try again. Communicating these cut costs, no matter how small, can mean the world to students who are squeezing every penny.
If a student does manage to navigate their way through community college, a possibly even more daunting task awaits them in transferring into a 4-year institution. Figuring out the transfer process, facing bigger class sizes and having to make new friends on campus is a little overwhelming, to say the least.
A recent report found that just 14% sought information directly from four-year colleges they were interested in attending. This is compared to those who relied on friends and family, which was 29%, or community college staff, which was 28%. Making sure the information for transfer students is easy to find and understand is the least an admissions team can do. Programmes like MyPath2ASU at Arizona State University are a prime example of how universities can support transfer students right the way through their education journey, rather than leaving them to figure it out on their own.
Another crucial component to consider is the alienation an upwards transfer student might face when transferring to a 4-year institution. Considering the likelihood of these students to come from lower socio-economic backgrounds, it can lead to feelings of isolation compared to the less disadvantaged students.
Highlighting career and academic services reserved for transfer students can ease that transition, and also help these students find their tribe with other students who have made it through the other side of community college. Transfer success stories and user-generated content showing they’ll be welcomed onto campus are a must to ease the rightful concerns of those climbing the economic ladder.
As the clock winds down until the demographic cliff, universities are going to have to widen their net to bring in more students. Targeting these variations of the traditional student requires an in-depth understanding of the nuances in circumstances.