DALLAS — A new report this week from the Education Advisory Board (EAB) encourages community colleges to increase support for part-time students in order to achieve equity and reduce the nearly 20-percentage-point achievement gap between White and minority students.
In “Reframing the Question of Equity,” EAB researchers found that part-time students – who are more likely to be Hispanic or Black – tend to have lower completion rates than their full-time and White peers. Even if they are part-time for only a semester, Hispanic and Black part-time students experience a decline in their degree-completion rates by 39 and 31 percent, respectively, compared to a decline of 29 percent for White part-time students.
The report was released during the annual meeting of the American Association of Community Colleges.
“Underrepresented minority students are more likely to be first-generation college students and face challenges that prevent them from attending full-time: financial pressures, family demands or the lack of a support system,” said Christina Hubbard, director of strategic research at EAB. “Going to school part-time exacerbates those challenges – and makes it more difficult for schools to help students overcome them.”
EAB’s report sheds insight on the growing faction of underrepresented minorities, first-generation and lower-income students who are part-time and make up the majority of today’s community college population. Even as college access improves, achievement gaps persist for these groups, according to the report.
“Despite investments in student success,” the report read, “overall community college graduation rates have remained stubbornly flat. In addition, outcomes among historically underrepresented students do not reflect the gains made in college access.”
The researchers’ data indicates that 83 percent of community college students will enroll part-time or leave school at least once before returning to graduate. Forty-seven percent of part-time students believe they will graduate within two years, but only 8 percent of students complete their degrees in four years.
