CHARLOTTE — Community college students are facing greater challenges than their peers at universities, according to a new report released Tuesday.

Fifty-eight community colleges are nestled in cities and towns across North Carolina. Students choose those smaller colleges for many different reasons.

“To save money,” said King’s College student David Jones.

“They give you personal attention,” added Central Piedmont Community College student Rabaka Jada.

But along with the good, comes the bad.

“I didn’t feel comfortable in the classes I was in,” said King’s College student Lauren Crisp. “I felt like I was wasting my time.”

“They set such high standards for your grades and things,” said King’s College student Valerie Adams. “But at the same time there was no discipline.”

The students at King’s College and CPCC say they are happy now after leaving other community colleges.

While they feel they are now getting the attention they deserve, a report released by the Community College Survey of Student Engagement suggests students don’t get the attention they should.

Eighty-nine percent of students feel advising and education planning are at least somewhat important, but only 43 percent say they met with an academic advisor to discuss goals by the end of the first four weeks of school.

Part of the problem, the report says, is the very reason students pick community colleges. Things like full-time jobs, children, part-time students and staff can make time life on campus challenging.

Barbara Rockecharlie, director of King’s College, says she sees the problems firsthand.

“We tell our students that it’s very important that they have a support system,” said Rockecharlie.

Faculty and staff at CPCC also realize it’s easy for students to feel disconnected and have several programs to help.

“Anytime they have the knowledge plus a person they can connect with, it’s going to increase their rate for being successful,” added Rita Dawkins, associate of student success services at CPCC.

The report was based on annual student surveys conducted in the past three years. About 310,000 students from more than 500 schools participated.

By: Johnell Johnson From: news14.com

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