One-stop shops.
Programs like Single Stop, which is offered at 22 two-year colleges, help students find solutions to their child-care, food, transportation, health care, and legal issues. Trained advisers connect students — who may be commuting long distances, caring for sick relatives, or living in shelters — with community services they may not be aware of or know how to access. The Community College of Philadelphia reports that in Single Stop’s first three years there, the program had helped more than 1,900 students get health-care coverage, 2,500 file taxes, and nearly 500 receive legal help with immigration, housing, and other problems.
Financial planning.
Even when they don’t cause students to drop out, financial worries can interfere with coursework. Colleges are finding that it’s cost-effective to spend time helping students budget, create emergency funds, and explore and apply for scholarships. Elgin Community College, in Illinois, offers a financial-literacy program that includes individualized loan counseling, group workshops, and an interactive live game in which players simulate their financial futures after graduation to see if they can make it to the end of the month before their money runs out.
It’s the help students get outside the classroom that often gets them through a course.
Time management.
Students who piece together part-time jobs and care for family members often need help setting realistic goals to make sure they set realistic priorities and carve out time to study. This is particularly true for first-generation students, whose sporadic attendance often causes their grades to drop and confidence to plummet. Bossier Parish Community College, in Louisiana, offers online tips on planning ahead, emphasizing studying, and limiting distractions.
Student mentors.
Peer mentors provide classmates with the attention that adjunct professors and counselors, stretched thin by workloads, can’t always offer struggling community-college students. Peers are also often able to broach nonacademic subjects in ways that seem relatable and nonthreatening. Century College, in Minnesota, is among the institutions offering support through Brother 2 Brother, which includes a student-success program designed to improve the educational experience and graduation rates of black and Hispanic men. Activities include weekly academic support, college-success workshops, and career discussion.
Learning communities.
Students take classes and get outside support together, creating a sense of community and greater curricular coherence. The courses often have a common interdisciplinary theme. Northwest Vista College, part of the Alamo Colleges District, in Texas, offers linked courses in sociology and government that examine government’s response to solving social problems. Some studies have shown that students who participate in learning communities are more likely to remain in college and graduate; other studies find that the benefits don’t extend beyond the first semester.
Katherine Mangan writes about community colleges, completion efforts, and job training, as well as other topics in daily news. Follow her on Twitter @KatherineMangan, or email her at katherine.mangan@chronicle.com.
