• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

New statistics showing low student transfer rates from California community colleges, especially among minorities, reveal what some see as another roadblock to increasing diversity in higher education.

Out of the students who initially planned on transferring to a four-year university, only 26 percent did, and within certain ethnic groups the number was lower, according to a study conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Of the 57 percent of Latino students who intended to transfer to a four-year institution after graduating high school in 1997, 17 percent did. Of the 64 percent of black students who wanted to transfer, 19 percent did.

Because the state’s 110 community college system, which serves 2.5 million students, has one of the most diverse student bodies in the nation, the report asserted that the success of community college students is key to adding diversity to higher education.

According to the report, community colleges serve groups which are underrepresented in other higher education systems, thus they are essential for reducing racial or ethnic disparities in educational attainment.

A study released in early November by UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access also found that blacks and Latinos in particular are more likely to be encouraged to go to a community college than a four-year institution after high school, making it a prime place for institutions to recruit a more diverse student body.

Jennifer Ward, a spokeswoman for the University of California Office of the President, said one of the things the UC has worked “desperately” to improve is communication with community college students about transfer requirements.

This year, the UC received an extra $2 million to improve relations with transfer students.

“We believe that improving transfer rates is critical to our state,” Ward said. “Right now the vast majority of upper-division classes are reserved for transfers and more than 80 percent of community college applicants are admitted.”

For community college students who want to transfer but do not feel they have sufficient counseling at their school, the UC is advertising a Web site started in the last year to inform them on academic requirements, Ward said.

Besides transfer requirements, many other community college students are juggling other responsibilities such as marriage, children, a second job or any combination of the three.

Wendy Sanchez, a third-year women’s studies transfer student who identifies herself as a Latina, did not take the path most students do before coming to UCLA. Sanchez never went to high school, had her first child at 15, and separated from her husband before attending Antelope Valley College in Lancaster in 2002.

Sanchez said the resources to transfer were there and the college’s transfer center was great, but not all academic counselors helped her on her way.

“A meeting with one counselor almost discouraged me because she said I couldn’t get into UCLA,” said Sanchez, who had a 3.2 GPA. “I didn’t have the best GPA, but I worked and had kids. But I said, ‘Forget that, I’m going to prove to her (that I can)’ and I didn’t let it bother me.”

Sanchez said if anything could be improved for the better in community college it would be counseling, especially from peers who have successfully transferred.

“Community college students need to see more people that have gone through it, so they feel like they have a chance,” Sanchez said.

Community College Chancellor Marshall “Mark” Drummond confirmed in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he is aware of these problems and that the system is doing its best to address them.

Drummond said the current community college system has not grown with the changing and more diverse population of California for the last decade. He also said that most incoming students are not prepared for college-level work.

Upon enrolling at community colleges, student assessment tests report that 90 percent of students need remedial math and 75 percent need remedial English and writing.