scholarly journals Catastrophe or Catalyst? Reflections on COVID’s Impact on Community Colleges

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 2-17
Author(s):  
Thomas Brock ◽  
Cameron Diwa
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Community Colleges ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Part Time Students ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Steep Decline ◽  
Aid Relief

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a steep decline in enrollments at community colleges, especially among Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous populations, males, and part-time students. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Acts provided funds for emergency aid and engaging disconnected students, and community colleges moved swiftly to shift services and instruction online. In this essay, we discuss how students and community colleges responded to the pandemic and what their experiences reveal about inequities in higher education. We argue that the crisis was worsened by years of underinvestment in these institutions and by entrenched structures and practices that do not address the needs and aspirations of many students. We review evidence on reforms that aim to remake community colleges in ways that improve student outcomes. While COVID-19 can rightly be viewed as a catastrophe, it may also serve as a catalyst for fundamental and lasting improvements in how community colleges are funded, organized, and operated to help more students achieve their goals.

scholarly journals Felnőtt tanulók diplomaszerzési törekvései

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ágnes Engler
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Academic Life ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Mature Students ◽  
Part Time Students ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Asking Questions

A tanulmányban a felsőoktatás ritkán vizsgált hallgatói csoportjának, a munka és (vagy) család mellett, részidős képzésben tanuló felnőtt hallgatók tanulmányi beruházásait vizsgáltuk. A részidős képzésben tanulókat érintő tudományos jellegű megkeresések leginkább a diplomaszerzést követően történnek a diplomás utánkövetéses vizsgálatok keretében. Ennek során a felsőoktatásban végzettek szakmai életútját munkaerő-piaci szemszögből kísérik figyelemmel, érdeklődve a diploma megszerzését követő karrierállomásokról, a diploma beválthatóságáról, munkaerő-piaci pozicionálásról, a tanulmányokba történő befektetések megtérüléséről és hozamairól. A felnőttoktatás felől közelítve ugyancsak elmondható, hogy a kutatási kérdések szintén szűk körben keresnek választ a felnőttek tanulási aspirációjára vagy eredményességére. Vizsgálatunkban a tanulási döntéseket, tanulási motivációkat és az eredményességet kísérjük figyelemmel, mégpedig a tanulmányi életút függvényében.***In this peaper we wish to deal with a group of students in higher education who usually receive little attention: the students pursuing their studies while they have a full-time job and a family. Sociological research dealing with people earning a degree as part-time students usually reaches the students after graduation, in the form of follow-up examinations. These projects follow the career of graduates from the aspects of the labour market, asking questions about the stations in the career of the individuals after graduation, the return of the investment made into education, the value of the degree in the labour market. Even the research projects approaching the issue from the aspects of higher education usually do not seek an answer to questions regarding the aspirations of the students for learning, or the success of their learning process. In our examination we research the learning decision, motivation and efficiency of mature students in the light of the academic life.

scholarly journals Washington Hotline

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 306
Author(s):  
Kevin Maher ◽  
Carrie Russell
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Loans ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Education ◽  
Student Aid ◽  
Budget Cuts ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
Aid Relief

COVID-19 relief for academic librariesWhile budget cuts for college and research libraries are taking place at many institutions, ALA continues to advocate for libraries to be included in federal relief packages. The $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L.116-136), passed in April, would benefit college and research libraries. The majority of the CARES Act Education Stabilization Fund is reserved for institutions of higher education (IHE) centers around student aid and encourages maximum flexibility. For example, the Department of Education (ED) is suspending payments on federal student loans until September 30, 2020, and no interest would accrue during this period of suspension. However, as much as 49% of the Education Stabilization Fund may be expended (to cover any costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction due to the coronavirus), with only a few constraints.

Academic Accreditation of Work-Based Learning in the Construction Environment

2004 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim McLernon ◽  
David Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Built Environment ◽  
Rational Method ◽  
Academic Learning ◽  
Academic Credit ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
Part Time Students ◽  
Institutional Learning ◽  
Part Time ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the contribution of work-based learning (WBL) to the education of construction students. The research draws on the experiences of part-time students and students on sandwich courses in a School of the Built Environment. The sandwich courses include a year in industry as the penultimate year of a four-year programme. This WBL component constitutes a valuable link between higher education and industry and provides a mechanism for students to consolidate learning in their final year as well as preparing them to take on responsibility in industry immediately after graduation. The paper also examines the relationship between WBL and institutional learning with a view to determining what academic credit is awarded for and how it is awarded. The authors argue that WBL is an essential component of higher education, and that credit for WBL is desirable in a system that promotes credit accumulation and transfer. There is currently no rational method of awarding credit for work-based learning and this paper proposes that articulations in current frameworks for credit accumulation and transfer schemes for academic learning may provide a substantive and transparent means of attributing academic credit to WBL. They also recommend that such a framework should be developed specifically for work-based learning.

scholarly journals Distance Learning as an Educational Trend in Higher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 128-141
Author(s):  
N. A. Seliverstova ◽  
M. G. Solnyshkina
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Research Strategy ◽  
Professional Status ◽  
Part Time Students ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Educational Trend ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Future Education

The case study research strategy describes variations in the educational and professional trajectories of part-time students in comparison with their attitude to distance learning, the goal of higher education, and their professional future of the individual. This research strategy makes it possible to present distance learning as a modern educational trend. It has been determined that in the system of continuing education, distance learning is (1) a tool for changing a profession, (2) part of a well-thought-out career strategy, (3) a guarantee of employment, (4) a way to legitimize a professional status, (5) a form that facilitates obtaining a diploma of higher education, (6) “future education”, education for the future. The subjective meanings of distance education in connection with motivation, the purpose of training, the attitude of students to it are revealed. For students receiving higher education, this is “self-education,” for those whose goal is a diploma, it is “formality”, “superficial mastering of disciplines.” The authors conclude that the consideration of correspondence education in the context of continuity allows us to identify trends in individualization, diversification (the diversity and variability of educational programs, creating opportunities for choice), informatization, and individualization. An assessment of the prospects for extramural higher education based on the experience of forced distance learning (March-June 2020) is given.

Part-Time Students and Performance-Based Funding 2.0 in United States Public Higher Education

2017 ◽  
pp. 153-176
Author(s):  
Brian A Peters ◽  
Ginger Burks Draughon
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Public Higher Education ◽  
Performance Based Funding ◽  
Part Time Students ◽  
Bachelor's Degrees ◽  
Part Time ◽  
And Performance

Meeting the college completion goals set by the United States Government, the Lumina Foundation, and others will require the completion of an additional eight million associate's or bachelor's degrees (Kelly & Schneider, 2012). As part-time students will make up to 40 percent of college students by 2023 (NCES, 2015), educational policymakers will need to adjust their completion agenda to account for the high number of part-time students in higher education. Drawing from the literature on part-time students and performance-based funding, the authors in this chapter propose that better attention to part-time students and factors that signal their success, combined with performance-based funding that acknowledges the need for the success of more part-time students, would be a worthwhile approach for increasing the accessibility of higher education.

Building the foundations for academic success: learning from the experiences of part-time students in their first semester of study

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-161
Author(s):  
Allyson Goodchild ◽  
Cathal Butler
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Success ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
Early Learning ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Part Time Students ◽  
Part Time

This article examines the findings from a mixed methods research study exploring part- time students' perceptions of their transition into higher education. Drawing on wider research in the field of transition and utilising Gale and Parker's (2014) conceptual framework as a means of viewing the transition process, the article identifies how one group of part-time undergraduates experienced the process of becoming an undergraduate. The results highlight the importance of offering a well-framed early learning experience for students, which enables them to learn the skills needed for early academic success and provides continued support as they progress in their own time towards recognition of themselves as undergraduates. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that transition is not time bound, and individual students will need individual approaches. This will require institutions to consider how the support they offer can be tailored to a student's specific needs.

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