Transfer Equity, Pt. 2: Community Colleges
In last month’s blog, I discussed the decision by my daughter’s school district foundation to allocate the majority of their resources to the three poorest schools in the district, which inadvertently created an “enrichment gap” between these schools and wealthier schools like my daughter’s. These funds were used for reading and math support and mental health, which promotes educational equity in one sense, but ultimately created inequities in art, music, STEM, and other enrichment activities since the wealthier schools used the vast majority of their fundraising dollars for these types of activities instead. In other words, the students would all enter high school on an equal footing in math, reading, and emotional wellness; however, even with such equality, the students from the wealthier schools would enter with more “educational wealth.” In this blog, I argue for what I term “transfer equity,” a form of educational wealth building that provides students not only with basic skills and needs but also with the educational opportunities needed for future academic success, in community colleges.
The idea of educational wealth building needs a little more context in order to demonstrate how important transfer equity truly is. Imagine renting a home versus owning one, or to align this analogy with educational equity, imagine renting a house through Section 8 versus owning a home. Both the renters and the homeowners have met their basic need for shelter, and with respect the basic criterium of living in a home (aside from size and amenities), this would be an example of equity since the Section 8 renter is given financial assistance in order to live in that home. However, if we fast-forward a decade or two, we will notice that there exists a vast inequity in the renter’s and homeowner’s wealth. While the homeowner accrued wealth through their home’s equity, the Section 8 renter would have very little wealth if they continued to rent their home, whether they were on Section 8 or not. There would be a wealth imbalance. As a result, true equity in this case would be helping the Section 8 renter buy a home and build wealth, so that in two decades, both people have built monetary wealth through their homes. In education, wealth building is going beyond basic needs and skills and investing in the enrichment opportunities available in wealthier schools.
We have a similar educational wealth gap in higher education, especially in light of national initiatives like Guided Pathways and dual enrollment, which force students to take the fewest number of units possible while getting through college as quickly as possible (some dual enrollment advocates even want students to skip their freshman and sophomore years of college altogether). This movement has impacted community colleges most acutely, as community colleges are encouraging students to engage in less exploration, are offering fewer extracurricular activities, and and are pushing students through their general education and major prep courses as “efficiently” as possible. Meanwhile, these same “student-centered”initiatives are not being pushed on university freshmen and sophomores. In other words, community colleges are increasingly becoming institutions that simply offer general education coursework and transfer credit, and while getting through lower division coursework in an appropriate timeframe is important, what is lost when focusing so much on speed and efficiency?
If we peel back the layers a bit more, we realize that we are actually underserving our community college freshmen and sophomores. Yes, we are giving them their general education and major prep courses, but this is just the basic foundation they need when they transfer. What are community college freshmen and sophomores missing out on that university freshmen and sophomores have access to. Well, here are just a few examples:
One university I found provided undergraduate research opportunities where students could work directly with university faculty and researchers on their own projects. This program had no unit or year requirements, just an application due the January before the program started and a prerequisite research methods course, which means any student who is a sophomore and up could participate. In fact, juniors were encouraged to apply for research grants rather than do this program, which is designed as more of an introduction to academic research. This implies that sophomores were the primary audience for this research program.
At another university, one department published testimony from a freshman who joined a research project with department faculty her very first year on campus. At this particular campus, students could apply for research opportunities each semester, which means freshmen students were able to partake in this research opportunity as early as their first spring semester.
Another university provided monetary grants to undergraduate art students from all levels, including freshmen, and internship opportunities where the students (again, from all levels of undergraduate study) could work in museums and galleries. The university also had the resources and space for showcasing student art. This same university also has a music program that allows undergraduates to join their ensembles as early as their sophomore year, which opens up opportunities to audition for the university’s orchestra and, thus, opens up professional opportunities for these students.
Unsurprisingly, all of the departments mentioned above had associated clubs, colloquia, symposia, and faculty advising to supplement both their coursework and extracurriculars.
One of the glaring differences between the above universities and the community college is the former’s focus on research, which provides their freshmen and sophomores with opportunities to work directly with faculty and researchers, sometimes for college credit. But this doesn’t necessarily need to be a gap between the universities and community colleges. While the focus in the community college is teaching, we should also be encouraging community college faculty to engage in research, whether that research is discipline-specific or on teaching and learning. This would provide students with more opportunities to work with faculty on actual research projects.
But community colleges can also provide students with other extra-curricular opportunities beyond research. Most schools have music, art, and/or drama programs. Colleges should invest and promote these programs in the same ways as universities so their students can use these experiences to build their educational wealth (like the ensemble students and museum interns mentioned above). Finally, colleges should provide more internship and mentorship opportunities both on and off campus.
Ultimately, community colleges need to provide much more than general education coursework. We know that students who transfer to universities do really well in their courses, so we are providing them with a strong academic foundation. But this is the bare minimum. If we can start providing students with more high-quality extra-curricular opportunities that allow them to build their educational wealth, they will truly be on equal footing as their fellow juniors who started at the university, which has positive implications as they finish their baccalaureate degrees, apply to graduate schools, and pursue their careers.