community college

Adjunct faculty face a number of unique pressures that make it challenging to obtain the professional development opportunities they want and need. In recognition of adjuncts’ growing need for training and support, we are expanding our partnership with the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) to co-host a a variety of high-quality resources covering professional development topics for adjunct faculty and administrators. These efforts represent our joint commitment to supporting adjuncts in their careers. This fall, Cengage Learning Digital Educators and faculty partners will present blog posts, podcasts, and webinars related to our theme: “Be Connected: Using Digital Tools to Read More…

Despite dramatic rain and floods, Cengage Learning and TeamUP, a part of Cengage Learning, participated in the 2015 NISOD conference held in May in Austin, Texas. NISOD (National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development) “is a membership organization committed to promoting and celebrating excellence in teaching, learning, and leadership at community and technical colleges.” Twelve hundred registrants heard popular speakers and learned about innovative programs, trends, and research. ‘Technology’ was part of everyone’s conversation. One speaker repeated a version of William Gibson’s quote, “The future is already here. It’s just not very evenly distributed,” and every instructor Read More…

Why might a student choose to enroll in a community college? In our recent Instructor Engagement Insights survey, we asked: “What are the benefits to students of attending a community college?”

Key themes identified by instructors were affordability, opportunity to build career and technical skills, smaller class sizes, resources that support students’ academic success, and proximity to home. While affordability and proximity pertain to convenience, the majority of these top themes relate to the specific quality perks that can be found at a community college. These are values worth building upon.  Read More…

In recent weeks, we’ve been sharing several posts that highlight student perspectives on community college. Today, we’re taking a look at what instructors have to say about the benefits of the community college experience.

In our recent Instructor Engagement Insights survey, we asked: “What are the benefits to students of attending a community college?” Instructors provided a wide range of answers, but five key themes emerged; we’ve summarized them below. If you’re an instructor, you may be interested in seeing what your peers have to say; if you know someone who’s still thinking through their college options, these insights may help them think through their decision.

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In our Spring 2015 Student Engagement Insights survey, we included a number of questions designed to better understand the needs and experiences of community college students. Among our own questions for this group, we wanted to find out their top reasons for choosing community college over other available educational options.

Nearly 2,700 students who are currently attending community college, or who have already transferred, responded to the question: Why did you opt to attend a community college? Below, we take a look at what they had to say, and summarize some of the trends we observed.

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Following World War II, “the United States economy promised middle-class jobs to high school graduates,” as Georgetown University’s Anthony Carnevale noted in a 2012 New York Times piece. “As late as the 1970s, more than 70 percent of middle-class jobs still required only high school or less, but between 1973 and 2010, the share of jobs requiring education beyond high school more than doubled, to more than 60 percent from 28 percent.” With today’s employment emphasis on technology and specialization, the expectations lean even more dramatically toward a postsecondary degree. For a growing population of traditional and non-traditional students, that means a two-year community college.

Though often stigmatized and dismissed in the past, community colleges have nonetheless realized a resurgence of interest among learners of all ages, educational backgrounds, skill levels and goals.

To read more about these trends, read our paper “Community Colleges Are Successfully Reinventing Their Mission,” which details how students at community colleges are more satisfied than students in four-year schools and also feel that their community college courses prepare them better for the workplace, compared with four-year schools.

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Community colleges provide the education that millions of students in the U.S. need to achieve their academic and professional goals.

At Cengage Learning, we aim to focus on both the student and instructor community college experience. In the video featured below, Cengage Learning CEO Michael Hansen discusses the vital importance of community colleges in the US higher education system and what is needed to keep making strides forward. Read More…

Community colleges provide the training and education that millions of students in the United States need to achieve their academic and professional goals and create a successful future for themselves and their families.

At Cengage Learning, we aim to focus on the student experience. We recently surveyed thousands of college students across the country to help us better understand how students live and learn. Learn what students have to say about their perceptions of, and experience at, community colleges. Read More…