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Study: Community College Students Face Obstacles

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By ADAM EMERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 6, 2008

As Florida's public universities reject more applicants and drive them to community colleges, a Harvard researcher said that students who start at two-year schools are more likely to face obstacles on their way to a diploma.

In a report for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Harvard education Professor Bridget Terry Long writes that students who start at two-year colleges are "significantly less likely" to get a bachelor's degree in six years than students who start at four year schools.

Although community colleges are popular for their increasing flexibility in scheduling courses and their accommodations for "nontraditional" students, those factors may weaken a student's progression through school and "make transferring to a four-year college less likely," the report shows.

The news comes as rejection rates at the state's 11 public universities reach record highs, leaving community colleges as the ultimate destination for most prospective freshman.

This year, there were more students vying for freshman seats than ever, but the demand coincided with Florida's souring economy. To make up for millions of dollars in budget cuts, each state university froze its first-year class to last year's levels.

The University of South Florida, for instance, admitted only 45 percent of its applicants and shrank its freshman class in Tampa by about 60 students.

By comparison, the number of Hillsborough Community College students increased by about 4 percent this fall. HCC administrators, dealing with their own spending cuts, had shut down dozens more course sections.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285.

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