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Research report
Community College
Unrealized Promises: Unequal Access, Affordability, and Excellence at Community Colleges in Southern California
Mary Martinez-Wenzl, Rigoberto Marquez

In 
California, 
community 
colleges 
have 
long
 played
 a
 central
 role 
in
 the 
state’s
 higher
 education
 system.
Dating
 back 
to 
the
 1960 
Master
 Plan,
 all
 California 
students 
have
 supposedly
 been
 assured
 of
 access 
to
higher
 education.

 Community 
colleges
 were
 slated
 to
 carry
 the
 largest
 portion
 of
 the 
load,
 responsible 
for 
educating 
and 
then 
either
 graduating
 or 
transferring 
two‐thirds 
of 
the
 state’s
 aspirants
 to
 a 
post‐secondary
 degree.
 Extraordinarily
 severe 
funding
 cuts
 (and
 the 
accompanying 
rise
 in 
fees)
 will,
 of 
course,
 do 
little 
to 
make
 good
 on 
that
 long‐standing
 promise.

During
 a
 time
 of
 serious 
demographic
 transition, 
the
 state 
can 
ill 
afford
 to
 backpedal 
on 
its
 pledges
 to 
a 
rising
 generation
 of 
black 
and 
Latino 
youth,
 who 
are
 very
 disproportionately
 concentrated
 in
 the 
community 
college 
system.
 These
 students
 will
 make
 up
 a
 majority
 of
 California’s
 work force 
in
 short 
order.
 Without
 access
 to
 higher 
education,
 the
 educational 
trajectory 
of
 multitudes
 of 
students
 will
 be 
tragically 
stunted, 
and
 the
 state’s
 economic
 engine
 will
 continue 
to 
sputter.

Beyond
 providing 
the 
basic
 funding
 and
 infrastructure
 to sustain 
enrollment in community colleges, 
California 
must 
work 
to
 ensure
 that 
the
 programs
 are
 working 
to
 transfer
 and/or
 graduate
 degree‐seeking
 students.
 A 
report 
last
 fall, 
from 
the 
Institute 
for 
Higher
 Education
 Leadership 
and
 Policy,
 gave
 notice 
that
 the
 community
 college
 system 
is
 falling
 far
 short 
of 
these
 commitments:
 fully
 70%
 of 
California’s
 community 
college 
students
 are
 not 
successfully 
transferring 
to 
4‐year
 institutions
 within
 six
 years.
 Both 
external
 and 
internal
 challenges,
 then, 
threaten 
to 
extinguish 
the 
possibilities
 of
 an 
absolutely
 essential 
element
 of 
California’s
 higher
 educational
 system.

This paper is part of the LASANTI Project, which explores many dimensions of social and economic change and inequality across the huge bi-national urbanized complex, stretching from the northern Los Angeles suburbs down through San Diego, to the Tijuana metropolitan area.

See a full description of The Lasanti Project here.

In compliance with the UC Open Access Policy, this report has been made available on eScholarship:

http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/23c5m52j

More about
The LASANTI Project: Los Angeles, San Diego, Tijuana region

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