California Commission Reports on Decline in Ratio of Part-Time Students and Other Access Issues
Chronicle of Higher Education 3/21/07
The proportion of part-time students in both of the state's four-year university systems has declined in recent years, according to a report on a study conducted by the panel, which advises the governor and the state legislature.
Part-timers accounted for 5.3 percent of students enrolled in the University of California in the fall of 2005, the study found, down from 7 percent in 2000. Part-timers' share of enrollments at California State University dropped from 23.4 percent to 20.6 percent over the same period.
Falling part-time enrollment could lead to improved graduation rates because students who attend college full time are more likely to earn a degree. But the trend could indicate a greater college-access problem, the report's authors caution, because nontraditional students, such as those with families, are more likely to attend college part time.
The report calls on state universities to offer a greater variety of degree programs through their continuing-education programs and to keep administrative and counseling offices open during times that are convenient to working adults, such as weekends and evenings.
"The state needs to ensure that a wide variety of educational opportunities are available to accommodate the needs of students who are unable to attend full time," Olivia K. Singh, the chairwoman of the commission, said in a written statement. "It's a matter of fairness."
The report suggests placing part-time students who are pursuing similar degree programs together in small groups that could act as peer-support networks. Those students would also benefit from specialized counseling to help them map out their course of study better and to reduce their tuition costs, the authors say.
In a separate report, the commission recommends improving services for community-college students that would help them better define and pursue their educational goals. Community colleges should develop stronger partnerships with four-year institutions, such as transfer programs that guarantee admission to certain two-year-college graduates.
And community colleges should provide more "robust" counseling to student populations with the poorest educational outcomes, the report says. Black and Latino students, particularly men, were less likely to earn a two-year degree or certificate or to transfer to a four-year institution, the study found.
Over all, more than half of students attending a California community college over a five-year period, from 2001 to 2005, left without earning a degree or transferring.
A third report found that college-going rates in the state vary widely, depending on students' ethnicity, gender, or type of high school. Students of all ethnic or racial backgrounds who attend high schools in low-income areas are less likely to go on to a four-year college.
That report highlights strategies employed by several high schools in the state to improve their college-going rates. Those approaches include magnet programs and high ratios of guidance counselors to students.
All three reports were released in conjunction with a meeting of the postsecondary-education commission this week.