Equity Gap and Student Success Recommendations

I just returned from a three-day Institute sponsored by the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO). The focus was on higher education, particularly the need for the improvement of community colleges to support success and completion for Latino Students. Of all the ethnic groups in the community college system, Latinos have the lowest rate of degree completion and transfer. The good news is that in January of this year the California Board of Governors adopted 22 Student Success recommendations.

Some of the recommendations will need legislation while others can be implemented locally at the Districts’ discretion. Let’s examine the conditions of community colleges for Latino students and see how the Recommendations could help.  

As background information know that the 112 community colleges in California serve 2.6 million students. Thirty-four percent of these students are Latino. However, only 23 percent of Latino students complete a program for transfer. Only 34.8 percent complete a degree. This may be because only 16 percent of Latino students who enter higher education are college ready. It is not much better for White students who are only 32 percent college ready. Furthermore, in California community colleges approximately 70-90 percent of all students need remediation in English and math. The research shows that it’s not due to a lack of motivation, but a lack of skill.

The impact of poor college preparation will negatively affect our economic growth. By 2025 California will face a shortage of 1 million college graduates. This is because by 2025, 41 percent of the jobs in California will require a Bachelor’s degree. By 2025 Latinos will be a majority of the workforce. The Student Success recommendations are intended to, “lay out reforms that will increase transfer, degree and certificate attainment and help close the achievement gap for historically underrepresented students” (California Community College Chancellors Office, 2012). Hopefully, our Latino students will be better prepared for the degree required workforce with these recommendations.

Let’s examine how Cabrillo is doing with the completion rate of Latinos. The following is data from the Cabrillo College Fact Book 2011.

• Associate of Arts Degree: Latino—24 percent; White—58 percent
• Associate of Science Degree: Latino—32 percent; White—56 percent
• Certificate of Achievement: Latino—28 percent; White—55 percent
• Transfer: Latino—19.6 percent; White—39 percent

Based on this data it appears that there is an equity gap at Cabrillo. The questions that need to be asked in regards to the implementation of the Student Success recommendations to resolve this equity gap are:

• When will the Student Success recommendations be brought to the Board for discussion?
• What is the timeline and plan for implementation?
• Are there any recommendations Cabrillo has already begun to implement?

Additional questions that can be asked are:

• How many of our students are not college ready and take remedial classes?
• Have you identified the barrier(s) for the low transfer rate for Latino students?

Perhaps these questions can serve to begin the implementation process so all our students at Cabrillo College, and in particular our Latino students can attain success. We want all our students to complete their educational goals, be it certificates, degrees, or transfer. We want all our students to have the tools they need to succeed. I know that Cabrillo has done some excellent work in Basic Skills and Learning Communities, however there is much more to do.