College education goals and outcomes for community college students

Education

Community College as Training for a Successful Future

Since many community college students pass on to another school or consider their community college experience as partial training, some individuals may argue that such an education should focus on what students want to know. Often, this includes a focus on liberal arts, offering many choices that may not give the students the tools they need for employment or future education. This sort of liberal arts focus, with a program design based on student desires, actually hinders a student's chances of succeeding once they leave the community college setting. For this reason, a community college education should include classes that cover the fundamentals of adult education and the specialty skills that will lead to successful employment.

To survive and draw students, every community college must offer courses based on interest and local need. However, this does not mean that they only offer classes that students ask for or demand. Students, whether they like it or not, attend college to improve their chances of employment, or to gain a specialty in a specific area. Learning a specialty is usually also aimed at attaining later employment. With these goals in mind, students who attend a two-year community college should be ready to attend classes that they may not find a personal interest in. This is particularly true where students plan to go on to a larger college after two years in community college.

Most four-year colleges and universities have standards for transfer students, creating an additional standard for community colleges. Students can, of course, study liberal arts and attain a degree in liberal arts. However, even liberal arts degrees require a core set of courses that may or may not be of any interest to many students. Community colleges are well suited to provide many of these basic courses, both for students who will later leave for a larger college and those who attend community college for other reasons.

When it comes to who decides what courses should be offered at the community college, college administrators and teachers are better suited than students in the matter. Educators and administrators have a greater view of what students need to succeed in a job and at other schools. They are more likely to understand the trends within certain fields. Additionally, as advisors and educators, they have a responsibility to turn out graduates who are able to successfully find jobs based on their skills. While students may feel like they understand what they are doing and where they are going, many students simply do not have the perspective needed to guide their own educations.