community college

Going to College Is One Thing, Graduating Entirely Another

This morning, while driving my son to the park on an expedition to feed some local ducks, I tuned into a program on my local college station (KUT) that dealt with issues in getting students who attend community college to graduate and move on to four-year or graduate institutions for further degrees. I have to endorse the notion that training beyond the associate’s level is a very good idea and that many employers don’t take two-year AA or AS degrees as seriously as they take a full bachelor’s degree, be it in the art, science, enginerring, business, or whatever.

It’s also true that community colleges are the backbone of our post-secondary educational system here in North America. In the aggregate these insitutions serve more students than four-year and graduate institutions, and they also provide much of the training and education to help career changers (be that voluntary, or involuntary) gear up for their latest chosen job roles or specialties.

What I found interesting about the story is that it recounts that many students simply can’t (or choose not to) study full-time to earn their Associate’s degrees, and programs designed to be completed in two to two-and-a-half years, often take five or more years to complete. Furthermore, statistical analysis of the number of students who sign up for classes within some kind of degree plan (ignoring those just pursuing continuing education or perhaps involved in specific shorter job-training programs) shows that somewhat under half of those students actually complete their degrees and matriculate.

I understand and sympathize with busy adult learners who often have to juggle family and work responsibilities along with school, and can easily image why it’s necessary to stretch a shorter program out over a longer period of time. But folks: if you’re going to start down this path, you owe it to yourself to walk it all the way down to the end, so that you’ll have something substantial to show for the time, effort, and money you spend on school. This goes double, or better, if you or your family have to borrow money to finance this education. Nobody can make you graduate, but you can do it if you keep at it, and force yourself to finish up.

Even then, it’s best to look at the AA or AS degree as a stepping stone to a bachelor’s of some kind, so you’ll want to keep your grades up, and get some strong recommendations to see you into your next step on the higher education trail. Keep at it, keep it up, and get yourself through. Best of luck (and results) to those in the process; keep this in the forefront of your mind if community college is an option you’re pondering — for yourself, or somebody you care about (or for).

Not All Training Programs/Institutions Are Created Equal

If you want a real eye-opener about some companies that operate in the post-secondary technical training market, check out Linda Briggs 2004 story: “Federal Probe Targets ITT Tech.” In particular, you must read the comments that accompany the article, where students wax lyrical and profane about their learning experiences. Interestingly, the federal probe cited in this story found no evidence of wrongdoing, and the company’s stock continued to trade in a range from $50 to $70 from mid-2005 until October 2008. It’s still trading at about $42 as I write this story, in fact.

I’m not trying to single out ITT as a “bad actor” in the training industry, particularly for IT subjects; rather, I’d like observe that it’s important for those looking for IT training or degrees to check all aspects of a provider’s posture and reputation–financial, technical, quality of instruction and curriculum, instructor/faculty credentials and ratings, facilities (especially access to state-of-the-art computing labs), and graduate and former attendee ratings and rankings–before signing up for any programs. I’d urge parents (where involved) and prospective students alike to be particularly careful before committing to programs that require students to accept multi-term engagements, either implicitly or explicitly.

One of the posters in the 54 pages of comments (!!!) that the ITT article provoked makes an incredibly telling point: he or she indicated that by attending a local community college, the same coverage and possibly better instruction would have been available at considerably less cost. Throughout my blogs and my career, I have been a big proponent of community college programs, and have taught repeatedly for my local institution, Austin Community College. Not only do community colleges work closely with local employers to build programs to provide qualified workers to fill their ranks, community colleges must also meet local, state, and federal requirements of all kinds just to operate on tax money.  These govern everything from quality of education, to availability of financing and grants, to openness, accountability, and quality. Also, community colleges are more or less transparent to those willing to take the time and expend the effort to research their offerings, graduation rates, instructor and program credentials, student demographics, and so forth.

If the current economic climate has you thinking about a return to school, or actively seeking a training, certification, or degree program of some kind, I urge you to include local community colleges in your search pool, even if you have neither the desire nor the intention to actually attend one. This will still help you to establish a basic benchmark against which other, more expensive programs can be evaluated at a minimum, and may provide you with some valuable training or learning experiences as you take to the classroom. As you evaluate other alternatives keep asking yourself “What value adds does this program offer that a community college does not? How do these value adds justify higher costs?” This is particularly important when evaluating online programs (like those from the University of Phoenix, Cappella University, and yes, even ITT itself) which often seduce students with promises of convenience and easy access, and entice them into expensive, long-term programs that they may come to question later on. Again: I’m not trying to start a witch hunt into distance learning programs, either: I’m just trying to urge some caution and investigation into programs that will involve significant amounts of time, effort, and expense to complete.

As with so much else in life, apply the old and sometimes detestable adage “Do your homework!” before signing up for training, certification, or degree programs–especially those that involve commitments of more than one academic term. Better to make a deeply informed decision than to find oneself saying “It seemed like a good idea at the time” sometime down the road.

Nice Plug from a Nice Blog(ger)

I hope those of you who dig into blogs on TechTarget’s IT Knowledge Exchange take the time to explore the many other offerings available through this excellent information exchange and public forum. In case you haven’t checked out Suzanne Wheeler’s “Views from the PIT — People in IT,” you might want to give it a try. She’s a Generation X type who’s been working in the IT trenches for over a decade, and has many useful and interesting things to say about daily workaday life in information technology. Like me, she’s all over the place (in a good way) with her coverage, mixing up information about IT certifications, book reviews, interpersonal (soft) skills, technology musings, and a whole bunch more.

What brought her to my attention this morning as I began casting about for today’s blog topic (more spontaneous than usual, given tomorrow’s holiday and my urgent need to clear the decks in time to go fight my way into Central Market this afternoon to pick up my brined Kosher turkey for tomorrow’s big meal) was a cross-link reference to one of my own blogs about Entry-Level Certs in the context of a nice piece she put together about financing IT certification costs through local colleges and universities. She’s a proponent of the institution for higher learning she’s currently attending–Western Governers University (WGU)–which offers some very attractive online training and degree programs, in addition to serving the Salt Lake City area locally. In an August 14, 2008 posting she observes that the program not only includes the cost of cert exams in its tuition charges (plus a free retake if you don’t pass on the first try), attending also makes students eligible for federal student loans, and you can take as many classes per six month term (fixed price tuition) as you can stand. It’s a great deal for those interested in chasing down IT certifications and/or a BS or MBA in various IT disciplines.

I’m a strong proponent for, and former instructor at, our local community college, Austin Community College, where they also offer a plethora of certification courses and training, and where financing is likewise available, and where tuition runs about $54 per classroom hour (a strange but familiar measure) for up to 18 hours per semester. As you look around for training deals and coverage in your area, be sure to check out local community and technical colleges, too, because they often offer a killer combination of good instructors, well-equipped labs, and low costs.

But what really got my attention–and a big grin–was Wheeler’s remarks about me in her blog when she said “Ed is such a skilled and knowledgeable professional just reading his bio makes me tired!” Little does she know how tired I sometimes get, but I like to blame my active, inquisitive 4.75-year-old son Gregory more than the pace and demands of work.

Thanks to everybody for reading my blog. I wish you and your families the best of holidays and good cheer. Above all, may your turkey be as juicy and succulent as I expect mine to be!

Best wishes,
–Ed–