{ THE EDUC A TION REVIEW }
college experience at MC. “My social life is a lot better,” she said. “There’s so much diversity, so many new ideas and things to think about. I’m here the whole day, so I don’t feel like I’m miss- ing anything.”
at noVa shah, 20, says she is
determined to embrace all that com- munity college has to offer. Born in Pakistan, Shah is president of the Mus- lim Student Association, a leadership position she’d likely have had to wait for until her junior or senior year at a university. As a school student ambas- sador, she gives tours and earns $10.52 an hour. She’s a member of the campus community service group and visited state lawmakers in Richmond to lobby for community college funding. NOVA “has given me a lot of leader-
ship ability. A lot of people know me,” said Shah, whose personality is enthu- siastic and bubbly. “I never thought I’d take part in so much, but it’s given me a chance to come out and explore things.” One morning in February, Shah took
a seat in a back row of her English 101 class as professor Andrew Young began a grammar lesson. The classroom was nondescript — nearly bare walls, stan- dard-issue desks — but the mix of 21 students was anything but vanilla. Skin tones ranged from light to dark and all shades in between. Students clearly just out of high school sat next to those who appeared to be in their mid-20s, with styles of dress that ranged from sweat- shirts to suit jackets. Slender with dark eyes, Shah wore
an outfit that was decidedly American — a button-down top and skinny jeans with Uggs-style boots. Her glossy black hair was covered by a bright turquoise scarf, the hijab of a Muslim woman. Wearing it is new to her. She credits NOVA with raising her overall confi- dence and giving her the poise to don the head scarf. Shah, a communica- tions major, is taking general education classes and plans to transfer to George Mason in Fairfax. She’s a conscientious student, taking color-coded notes as her teacher talked. Shah’s road to NOVA was winding,
though the campus is only a few miles from the townhouse she shares with her relatives. Her family moved to the
Lameira: “There’s so much diversity, so many new ideas and things to think about.”
United States when she was 4, and Shah graduated from Gar-Field Senior High School in Prince William County with a 3.5 GPA. Though her parents urged her to consider community college, Shah said she turned up her nose. “I was not going there,” she said. “It was for people who didn’t do well in high school.” When Shah learned she could earn
a bachelor’s degree in three years from private Westwood College in Annan- dale, she was hooked. But after one semester, she realized that Westwood didn’t offer the classes she wanted, and she left. Because the school hadn’t fin- ished processing her financial aid forms, Shah is still paying off the $3,000 cost of her classes there.
Community college officials say they
hope the schools’ reputation as a place students don’t attend by choice is changing, and even Washington is tak- ing notice. President Obama touted the benefits of community college last year when he unveiled the American Grad- uation Initiative, which would have pumped $12 billion into the schools, with a goal to add 5 million new gradu- ates by 2020. The legislation passed as part of an overall student loan package in the U.S. House but was eventually dropped when that package became part of the health-care reconciliation legislation. Advocates note that community col-
28 The WashingTon PosT Magazine | April 11, 2010
leges allow students to take small, gen- eral classes that on a university campus might be filled with 100 students and taught by a teaching assistant. Because professors generally aren’t focused on publishing and research at commu- nity college, they can concentrate on instruction. Arguably, that may mean they’re not at the forefront of their field, but some of those teachers — especially in the Washington area — are movers and shakers, such as Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, who teaches English as a Second Language on NOVA’s Alex- andria campus. However, students considering com-
munity college should look closely at the pluses and minuses of not starting out at a four-year school, said Rakesh Chopde, a classmate of Lameira’s in the Mont- gomery Scholars program. Chopde, 18, who struggled to choose between dorm life at the University of Maryland and commuter life at MC, doesn’t regret his choice. But he’s sometimes envious of his fellow graduates of Burtonsville’s Paint Branch High School who are hav- ing the “whole college experience.” His classmate Kristin Hoover, 18,
who was home-schooled, said she wouldn’t have enrolled at MC without the specialty curriculum. Outside the scholars program, she said, some stu- dents “lack commitment and involve- ment. I didn’t want to be in a class with unmotivated students who are just try-
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