In an era when college completion dominates the policy agenda, matters of access and equity are critically important. The allure of raising completion rates by reducing access for students thought unprepared for college and incapable of finishing is too attractive to deny. This article discusses the importance of linking access and completion to ensure that equitable outcomes are obtained by community college learners and examines the question of how policy affects access in the context of the nation's college completion agenda. Key national initiatives undertaken to increase completion are examined with an eye toward understanding how the strategies developed by these initiatives affect student access and success.
This chapter discusses results of a fifty-state study conducted through the Academic Pathways to Access and Student Success initiative, and identifies curricular, instructional, and organizational The aspiration to attend college is nearly universal among American youth, yet the fulfillment of such desires is much more limited. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2004), roughly 90 percent of the 2002 high school sophomore cohort desired a college education, and over 70 percent expected to complete a four-year college degree. In actuality, only 62 percent of this group enrolled in college, and nearly half of the college entrants failed to return for a second year. Those who do not enter or remain in college do not experience the same benefits, such as increased annual earnings, as college graduates (Howe, 1988;Rosenbaum, 2001).The term college access links a number of different issues: how low-and middle-income families pay college costs, how students traditionally underrepresented in higher education overcome discrimination and social disadvantage, and how well high school graduates are prepared for college-level work (Cabrera and La Nasa, 2001
This study addressed the current policy push to improve students' college and career readiness (CCR) as manifested within the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and examined CCR policy in the state of Illinois as a case study, noting ways in which provisions for CCR programs prepare all students, including those historically underserved by higher education, to be prepared for education and employment post-high school. Research Methods: A critical analytic approach was undertaken, foregrounding equity. We conducted thematic content analysis of ESSA and Illinois policy, employing a CCR accountability paradigm. Findings: CCRrelated content was contained throughout ESSA. Although content varied, themes were identified. Dual enrollment provisions were prominent in ESSA but not the Illinois' CCR laws; however, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics was emphasized in both. ESSA introduced but did not fully clarify what constitutes a well-rounded education and did not identify particular reporting and accountability provisions, whereas two Illinois' CCR bills focused on remedial education and the third evidenced a more comprehensive and integrated CCR approach. These findings suggest distinct federal and Illinois' CCR visions. A more systematic equity focus was evident
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