Dive Brief:
- Expectation shifts and new pressures are making community college leadership less appealing at a time when a wave of college presidents are hitting retirement age.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education reports on a discussion at the annual meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges about funding cuts and higher expectations for student success as intense pressures dissuading potential leaders or chasing off those that take the challenge.
- Community college presidents have retired en masse since 2011, according to the article, and their replacements are not staying long enough to affect ambitious change.
Dive Insight:
Community colleges are at the epicenter of major changes in higher education today. Cheryl Hyman, chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago, points to the shift in expectations for community colleges as places that provide access to those that foster success. Schools across the country are being asked to improve retention and graduation rates, improve remediation programs, and support an increasingly needy student population. It is not a surprise many prospective leaders shy away from the significant challenges, all while some states continue to cut funding to higher ed.