the notion of college as being something one should aspire to, but very often that idea is connected to a brand. Commu- nity colleges are the local alternative, and some young people don’t see that as quite as exciting.” That is starting to change as stu-
dents — and their parents — realize that if they succeed in community college, they might be able to transfer to prestigious schools, earn a diploma stamped with Georgetown University, for example, and pay half the price. In addition, community colleges are adding more rigorous courses and pro- grams and expanding student activities. Students can join the hockey or lacrosse teams at NOVA and can earn credits through summer travel experiences, such as rock climbing in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve. At Mont- gomery College, students can intern at the Smithsonian Institution or join the campus metalheads club. And at Prince George’s Community College, students might catch a lecture by famed micro- sculptor Willard Wigan, who creates art so small it can fit in the eye of a needle.
as the economy continues to falter,
job losses rack up and families’ savings dwindle, more students who saw them- selves going directly from high school to a four-year institution are instead carving a path to their local community college. The image of the older student returning to community college to take a few classes or brush up on skills — while still a significant portion of the student body — is now morphing into that of a younger student who wants more than just a place to take a night course. Nationally, about 46 percent of students on community college cam- puses are younger than 21, according to a 2007 report from the American Association of Community Colleges, up from 42.5 percent in 2003. Enrollment at the nation’s 1,173 com-
munity colleges, which includes techni- cal and junior colleges, has spiked. According to the AACC, from 2007 to 2009, enrollment rose by 17 percent on average. At NOVA, however, enroll- ment rose by 24 percent, or 11,000
students, in the past three years. Conve- nience and cost are big reasons. Average annual tuition at community colleges, where students typically earn a two- year associate’s degree or some form of certification, is $2,554, compared with more than $7,000 at four-year public institutions and much more at private colleges. But there’s a stigma that remains
about community colleges, often seen as a last resort for students who can’t get into a four-year school, said Norma Kent, vice president for communica- tions at the AACC. “My description is that we are the
generic brand in a name-brand society,” she said. “Most Americans have bought
on a Friday afternoon in early March,
a group of 18 students sat in Montgom- ery College philosophy professor Robert White’s basement a few miles from the bustling Rockville campus. Along with history professor Mary Furgol and litera- ture professor Clif Collins, the students perched on leather couches and chairs and discussed the poetry of T.S. Eliot and William Butler Yeats. Students sipped coffee and munched
Pepperidge Farm cookies as the discus- sion jumped from modernism to Freud- ian theory, from World War I and the Bible to the paintings of Edward Hop- per. The dim basement, with its wood paneling, stained-glass windows and bookshelves filled with tomes on sub- jects including Einstein and Russian philosophy, seemed a cross between a neighborhood tavern and an eccentric
Shah: NOVA “has given me a lot of leadership ability. … I never thought I’d take part in so much.”
april 11, 2010 | The WashingTon PosT Magazine
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