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Less than 40% of students in community college graduate within six years
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Less than 40% of students in community college graduate within six years
Higher education is a goal that many people would like to pursue after high school. The two most common options for college are either a two-year community college or four-year colleges. The choice between these two is determined by a variety of factors such as financial costs, time taken to complete a program, among others. Students who opt for community college are mostly motivated by the cheaper tuition fees. Many of these students join community college with the intention to transfer to a four-year institution afterward, but the majority of them do not achieve this dream. Some of the reasons why community colleges see low completion rates include inexperience of students, underfunded colleges, and financial constraints, among others.
When addressing the issue of completion rates in community colleges, the first issue to look at is the composition of students in these colleges. Historically, community colleges serve mainly students from minority and low-income groups within society. Research from the Brookings Institute shows that these colleges serve 43% of African Americans, 56% of Native Americans, 40% of Asian/Pacific Islanders. And 43% of Hispanics. In addition to being minorities, students from these groups are also likely to be from backgrounds with financial challenges. They choose community colleges because these two-year colleges are cheap compared to their two-year counterparts. According to data from the 2017-18 academic years, community college fees averaged $3570, while that of four-year colleges averaged $9970 (Levesque 1). Most students from low-income backgrounds, therefore, prefer to get into community colleges as their first step in higher education before proceeding to four-year colleges.
Community colleges have low completion rates among students, averaging less than 40% of all enrolled students within six years. There are many reasons for this. The first reason is that students from community colleges struggle with the financial costs of college. Although community college is comparatively cheaper, some students still have to struggle with costs associated with college, such as textbooks, upkeep, among others. Such students often have to work multiple jobs to afford all their needs while in college. Such situations leave them with very little time to study, and they end up not completing their programs on time. Some students also find that the costs of paying for college in addition to other costs, such as supporting their family prove to be too much, and they drop out of college.
Underfunded community colleges are another major reason for the low completion rates in community colleges. Because community colleges serve a unique group of students, they need to come up with programs and schedules tailored to their student population. However, community colleges have limited funds to implement such programs. The low tuition fees that students pay in these colleges leave little for the implementation of new programs for students. Some of the programs needed in community colleges include flexible and e-learning schedules, especially for students who have to work while attending college (McIntosh & Rouse 17). Some may not be able to make it to class according to schedule, and they should have other ways of accessing their learning materials. Unfortunately, community colleges receive very little funding at state and federal levels that would enable them to serve their students adequately.
Inexperienced students also contribute to low graduation and completion rates among students in community college. When students join college, they are often unprepared for the major decisions they will have to make. Examples of these decisions include what majors to take on, how and whether to transfer to four-year programs and which careers to pursue after graduation. Most students who graduate from high school and join community colleges often do not have a clear picture of what they want or the information they need. They then make decisions that may later prove unsuitable for them, and they end up dropping out of college or taking very long to complete their programs (Juszkiewicz 29). College can be an overwhelming and frustrating experience without the necessary guidance.
There are also motivational barriers that hinder students from completing their community college programs in good time. When students join college, they might have a hard time connecting their education to their life goals and dreams. About 80% of students joining community college intend to transfer to a four-year college after completing their programs. However, only an astonishing 7% of them achieve this in less than six years (Chen 1). Students in community college are likely to experience different circumstances in their lives that make it difficult for them to complete their programs on time. A student without clear motivation and goals will often cave in the face of social, financial, and other constraints. Students should, therefore, have a clear goal when joining college to ensure that their programs align with their life goals.
In conclusion, community college is an integral part of the US higher education system. These colleges offer students a cheaper alternative to four-year colleges. Most of the students who attend community colleges come from minority and low-income groups. Community colleges see low rates of completion within six years, and this is a worrying trend. Some of the causes of this situation include financial strain, motivational barriers, underfunding of community colleges, and inexperienced students. These challenges should be addressed to make sure that most students who enroll in community colleges complete their programs and transfer to four-year institutions. Higher education is a ticket to a better life, especially for students in community college.
Works Cited
Chen, Grace. “The Minority Report: How Minority Students are Really Faring at Community Colleges.” Community College Review. 01 November 2018. www.communitycollegereview.com/blog/the-minority-report-how-minority-students-are-really-faring-at-community-collegesJuszkiewicz, Jolanta. “Trends in community college enrollment and completion data, 2017.” (2017).
Levesque, Elizabeth Mann. “Improving community college completion rates by addressing structural and motivational barriers.” Brookings. 8 October 2018. www.brookings.edu/research/community-college-completion-rates-structural-and-motivational-barriers/McIntosh, Molly F., and Cecilia Elena Rouse. “The other college: Retention and completion rates among two-year college students.” (2009).
Language in Canada
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Language in Canada
English and French are two of the most widely spoken countries around the world; thus, English and French speakers are among the biggest speech communities. This speech community exists across all of the world’s continents and includes millions of people across many countries. Canada adopts the use of both of these languages, which are spoken by the majority of the Canadian population. The majority of Canada’s population, about 56%, speak English as their mother tongue, while French is the mother tongue to about 21.4% of the country’s population. Canada is divided into ten provinces, and each of these has its own official language. Quebec is the only province that has French as its official language, and New Brunswick is unique in the sense that both French and English are the official languages to the same extent. The other provinces use English as their official language, although both French and English have federal status across the country. Aside from the two major languages, there are many other indigenous languages spoken by a minority of the population in Canada. These languages include Babine, Abenaki, Han, Kaska, Seneca, Dogrib, Cayuga, Munsee, among many others (Norris 27). The main speech community of focus in Canada is the French speakers in the country.
Part 2
The French-speaking community in Canada pre-dates nationhood. French was first introduced in the country in the 17th Century by French explorers who discovered Canada. French explorer Jacques Cartier was the first to discover present-day Canada while on an expedition to find a direct route from France to Asia. In 1605, the French set up their first settlements in Quebec and Acadia. Soon more French settlers followed, and French became a widely spoken language in the region. In the 18th Century, the British took over the rule of Canada after a series of wars between the British and the French. The British attempted to Anglicize the French population but failed. The British Parliament passed the 1774 Quebec Act, which restored French civil laws, and promoted the coexistence of French and English speakers in the country (Foucher 54). Since then, the French speech community has gained equal recognition as an English speech community, the largest speech community in the country.
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Languages
Canada is a multilingual country, though the different speech communities in the country vary in size. Before the arrival of the French and the British, indigenous communities occupied present-day Canada. These communities spoke various indigenous languages. However, when the French set up their settlements in the 17th Century, they taught their language to the indigenous people around their settlement. The same happened when the British took over Canada after a war with the French in the 18th Century. At first, the British wanted to eliminate the French language in Canada, but this proved to be a challenge. The British caved to pressure and passed laws in 1774 to make French an official language (Hudon & Ménard 13). Since then, Quebec has remained the only Canadian province with the majority of French-speaking citizens. The indigenous languages were subordinated by French and English, although a limited population of Canadians, about 0.6%, still speak indigenous languages as their mother tongue.
Official Language Policy
Canada takes the issue of language very seriously, and the country even has an Official Languages Commissioner to monitor languages across the provinces. There have been several laws regarding language over the years. The first notable language policy in Canada’s history is the 1774 Quebec Act that gave French official status in the Quebec Province. More recently, the 1969 Official Languages Act gave French and English equal federal status in the country. This means that pieces of legislation and other official government in the country must be enacted in both languages. Quebec has worked hard to protect the French language as the main one used in the province. For example, the province passed the Official Language Act in 1974 to cement French as the province’s official language (Foucher 60). This policy was replaced in 1977 by a charter that required the use of French as the predominant language in government, education, commerce, and employment.
Language and Schooling
UNESCO reports that children stand to benefit a lot from the use of mother tongue during the early years of education. The organization promotes the use of three languages in education, mother tongue, a national as well as an international language. The use of these three is meant to foster diversity and interconnectedness among people from different parts of the world. In the case of the French-speaking community in Canada, these three languages are often the same one. The challenge with these is that children end up missing out on the benefits of multilingualism. Quebec Province mandates that French be the dominant language, and this is a challenge for multilingual efforts within the Quebec French community.
Language in Everyday Life
Popular media is still dominated by languages spoken by the majority of the population as it forms a bigger audience. However, media should also work towards the inclusivity of other languages as well. The current attitudes towards French, especially in Canada, is that the language is under threat, especially by English. English remains the most widely spoken language in the country, with more than half of the population being Anglophone. This is why Quebec has worked so hard to protect the status of French as the dominant language in the province. A perfect example of this is the 1977 charter that mandates the use of French across important areas such as government, education, employment, and others.
Works Cited
Foucher, Pierre. “Legal environment of official languages in Canada.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2007.185 (2007): 53-69.
Hudon, Marie-Ève, and Marion Ménard. Official languages in Canada: Federal policy. Parliamentary Information and Research Service, 2009.
Norris, Mary Jane. “Aboriginal languages in Canada: Emerging trends and perspectives on second language acquisition.” Canadian Social Trends 83.20 (2007): 11-008.
Kids of Today and Internet Use
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Kids of Today and Internet Use
If there are children who have been under attack, it is the millennium kids. When you google about millennials, the results are most likely to be blog posts, article and research that have an impression that this huge group of 20 and 30s are self-entitled, narcissist and who are always on their phones or online. Amy Goldwasser in her article titled “What’s the matter with the kids today?” tries to breakdown an understanding of this current generation who seem to be quite ignorant even to the country’ literature as well as history. She tries to portray the internet is not as bad as we have made it seem. According to Goldwasser, the only problem with the millennium generation is not the use of the internet. I tend to agree with Goldwasser, but is it about the kids or is it about the technological advancement that are at the peak during a point millenniums were born. The internet has proved to do more good than harm as most surveys would want to portray and see need to embrace it’s use and stop demystifying millennials for their hook on internet use.
Technology has been a great aspect of interacting with people from different walks of life. Goldwasser points out that internet has been an important aspect that has helped teenagers document their lives. Goldwasser puts the word honest in that statement which is what I don’t agree with, most of the millenniums who document their lives while some are real and honest, others are living a fake life trying to please other people or compete with the other people from what they see on the internet. Despite these disadvantages, millenniums may be the most connected generation. Exchange of ideas is done across continents. The internet has changed the lives of most millenniums and a god example are the millionaires who invented social media platforms.
Most of us will want to argue about the negative effects such as millennials stuck on their phone every single time. Goldwasser, points this out that often as kids, we are stuck on our phones but she also quickly points out how we have revolutionized technology as ads can be sold with a site like Myspace which is worth $580 million. Internet has changed how we get to interact with people from all over the world including sharing of love, interaction and knowledge. There have been social media platforms such as snapchat, Instagram and Facebook that has made all this easier. Social media platforms have revolutionized e-commerce. We are at a point online business has taken over everything including how we order this. This can all be credited to the millennial generation. Goldwasser points out how even presidential election was streamed on YouTube and points out the power of this by stating that this may actually determine how election may turn out. This just proves how strong the internet is and if the power is harnessed well then we can make a lot of impact on the millennials with the correct use of the internet.
The young generation have harnessed the internet to their advantage. Getting well-paying jobs is no longer as easy as it used to be. The millennials are entrepreneurs and not lazy as the media articles has made it look like especially when referring to their constant use of the internet. We no longer leave in generation where well-paying jobs are guaranteed but rather one needs to be inventive. The internet has helped the millenniums be inventive. Most run online businesses and the greatest part is that they have the support of their fellow millennials as you will see them sharing the posts of each other business across platforms. Blogging and networking has been embraced by teenagers “average teen chooses to spend an average of 16.7 hours reading and writing online.” (Goldwasser, pg. 239) This means if there is information that you need the teens to get, then the best way to ensure they get it is through the internet. There are individuals who have gained following and refer to themselves as influencers. These individuals at a fee will help people know about your business and it is a great way of putting a word out there about a business. Thus, when you see “kids of today”’ online, there is so much they are doing. Cleary the millennials are exploiting the technology in building an empire for themselves.
The author makes a good point about the surveys often conducted about the use of the internet and how they’ll label “labeling like the mean girls, driven by the same jealousy and insecurity.” (Goldwasser, 238) This over generalization is among the stereotypes that have always been used to label the millennium generation. Goldwasser points out that the internet is among the things that we now know about teenagers. Most want to purport that the internet has made most kids lazy as they are able to access all their information online but isn’t this what the internet was made for? Everyone including the adults use the internet to understand what is happening outside. If for example a shooting occurs, then we are likely to quickly google to understand what is happening. Gone are the days we used to wait on news bulleting or newspaper to understand what is going on as information is now a tap away.
Although the internet has proved to be a great source of information, there is evidence that most “kids of today” are ignorant of important history. The author gives the example of a survey that established one in four children did not knows the importance of Adolf Hitler in history. A solution is provided by Goldwasser is that parents needed to have introduced minutes of research on the Holocaust when monitoring their children use of the internet. Parents should actually be involved in monitoring what their children access through the internet. If you want your child to gather important information from the internet, then you are in a position to do this. Denying your child internet is no longer the solution. Taking phones, iPods or computers from them may do more harm than good. They may miss out on getting very valuable information however this can be prevented by ensuring that your daughter or son access important information including research on literature and history for just a few minutes. There is however the concern of getting false information from the internet as Silva indicates in her essay. It is important to teach these kids how to analyze and get credible sources for their information.
In conclusion, we should stop demystifying the internet and how millennials use the internet. Internet is not the problem as to why teenagers may be ignorant of information, rather, it is the use that has proved to be a problem. Goldwasser believes parental guidance is important in ensuring kids of today utilize it to get important information. It is important that we understand that the internet is not the villain but rather we need to help our kids know how to use it responsibly. There is so much ways the internet can help our teenagers be better people and get valuable information.
Works Cited
Goldwasser, Amy. “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” Salon, Salon.com, 14 Mar. 2008, https://www.salon.com/2008/03/14/kids_and_internet/.
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Silva, Catherine. “Wats the Matter W U.” 25 February 2011. Document. 28 October 2019.