Take a Page Out of the Community College Playbook: How a Community College Education Prepared Students to Meet Pandemic Challenges

Abstract

As colleges and universities continue to navigate the longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, a wealth of knowledge and insights exists within many community colleges to inform how to best prepare students for the fast-changing demands of learning, work, and life. Using a strengths-based approach and interviews with students from three large community colleges in the Midwest, this study explores how a community college education prepared students for the pandemic and areas in which students could be better equipped. The students appreciated their community college education for its practicality of training and research capacity, technology and communication skills in virtual formats, cultivating resilience, diversity as a highlight, and an education for the community. Areas where the students wished they had learned more were handling stress and managing time, engaging with diverse perspectives and work styles, and keeping up with the evolving technology landscape.