Dive Brief:
- Georgia Perimeter community college associate professor Rob Jenkins thought being absorbed into Georgia State was going to be the end of its mission to provide a starting point for access to four-year schools, but now that the institutions are days away from becoming one, he has changed his mind.
- Jenkins writes for The Chronicle of Higher Education that Georgia Perimeter will continue to have lower tuition and admissions standards than Georgia State, and that it will go on offering associate degrees and preparing students to transfer into four-year programs — easing their path toward Georgia State, especially.
- He also sees political support for community colleges to be focused on technical programs and job training, not their role as starting points for students who can’t afford or get into bachelor’s degree programs from the start, which puts this traditional mission in danger.
Dive Insight:
When the California legislature announced it would let some of the state’s community colleges offer four-year degrees, Jenkins saw it as a potential death knell for community colleges. They would have to hire more expensive faculty and might be forced to increase tuition; they may end up feeling pressured away from an open admissions policy. The final arrangement with Georgia State, however, leaves the roles of the two institutions as separate as they are now.
For other struggling community colleges, the example may become a model as a way to stay true to such traditional missions but gain the financial security of research institutions that get more money from the state.