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Nevada community colleges seek admission changes
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Ronda Churchill/Las Vegas Review-Journal
The College of Southern Nevada has 44,000 of the state's 114,000 college students. In recent years, the crowded school has had to turn away thousands of students. » Buy this photo
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Michael Buenavista, left, waits in line last week at the College of Southern Nevada, hoping to add classes. The school could tighten admission standards next year. Ronda Churchill/Las Vegas Review-Journal » Buy this photo
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Sep. 6, 2011 | 7:54 a.m.
Nevada's community colleges, home to more than half the state's 114,000 college students, are about to abandon their long-held admissions policies that allow almost anybody to sign up for classes.
The state's community college presidents are asking the higher education system's governing board to require a high school diploma or its equivalent to get into a community college.
The proposal, which would go into effect in the fall of 2012, will come before the Board of Regents next week.
"It is establishing, for the first time, a minimum benchmark to participate in and complete an education in a community college," said Dan Klaich, the state's higher education chancellor.
Michael Richards, president of the College of Southern Nevada, said the idea behind the proposed policy change is actually to help those potential students who did not finish high school, not abandon them.
"I think the reason behind this is that the evidence tells us that students are more successful in college if they are ready for college when they start," he said.
CSN, by far the largest higher education institution in the state with 44,000 students, has an abysmal graduation rate. It recently doubled to 9 percent.
The reasons for that are many -- some students go to community colleges for enrichment, or transfer, or work training without ever seeking degrees.
But no one believes that a 9 percent graduation rate is good enough.
"Higher graduation rates are going to be a real significant factor in everything we do," Klaich said.
That, alone, is not the reason for the community college admission standards, he said. But it is a factor.
The cost of remedial education is also a factor.
A recent report completed by a task force Klaich appointed named remaking remedial education at the community colleges a top priority.
Richards said thousands of students in Clark County don't graduate high school each year, either because they failed proficiency exams or they did not meet other requirements set out by the School District.
Many of those students could end up at CSN, he said. And, by and large, they are being set up to fail, he said.
"On the one hand, we want to help those students. We really do. And in the past we've had the resources to do it."
With CSN's state-supported budget cut 15 percent this year, on top of other cuts in recent years, resources are scarce, he said.
"The faculty agree that, if (lawmakers) are not going to fund the colleges, we need to have restrictions," said Sondra Cosgrove, chairwoman of the CSN chapter of the Nevada Faculty Alliance.
In recent years, as demand has outstripped CSN's capacity, the college has had to turn away thousands of students, mostly on a first-come, first-served basis.
Shutting out those without high school degrees could free up more room in community colleges.
But there could be other consequences.
Patrick Callan, president of the Higher Education Policy Institute, said the proposed change had "major policy implications."
"Community colleges are having a very difficult time in fulfilling their mission," he said.
Funding is down, and demand is up, as often happens when the economy is poor. People go back to school to reeducate themselves.
Callan said that shutting out those without high school diplomas could further hurt what is often the poorest segment of society.
With no opportunity to educate themselves, they may have little chance of improving their financial situation.
"If provisions are not made, we're just condemning a substantial portion of the population of the state to financial oblivion," he said.
The proposal would require the colleges to create provisions that would allow potential students without diplomas to get a college education.
Richards said those alternatives have not yet been created.
"That's going to be our next step," he said.
Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.
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Someone should say it. I attended CSN about ten years ago (yes, I finished), and had an excellent experience. I can't think of a single teacher I had who was incompetent in their subject matter, or uninterested in their students. Several of the teachers I had were fully qualified to teach at four year universities, but ended up at CSN instead (for whatever reason). I have known several part time instructors who were fully qualified, experienced professionals in their own fields. And I have known PLENTY of serious, dedicated students who went to CSN to get their undergraduate core curriculum requirements out of the way, before going on to UNLV for a four year degree. So to say that CSN is full of retirees and degenerates, and is a waste of the taxpayers' dollars, is cruel and unsupportable nonsense.
OHHHH! The horror!!! CSN might actually require a diploma that any kid with a borrowed brain cell can get, or a GED, that anyone with a pulse can get...
Many of the classes CSN provides were never designed for degree seeking students. They were designed for retirees and stay at home parents. In essence CSN will not be denying degree seeking students but rather punishing older folks for voting in politicians that openly wanted to, and did, remove funding from education.
All illegals should head to California. That state is giving everything under the roof to them at taxpayer expense.
CSN does not set admissions criteria, the Board of Regents has that responsibility.
Every biennium the Regents also submit NSHE's budget to the governor and legislature. The schools ask for $1, the legislature only funds 70 cents and the Regents tell the colleges they can only charge 5 cents from the students, and the schools have to figure out a way to offer services that cost $1 with 3/4 of the required revenue.
That's why serious educators leave Nevada.
You mean to tell me that to go to college you have to actually graduate high school first?!@?!@?!?@@#()$*& That's RACIST! Where's Johnny Cochrane, I want my payday!
Seems like a reasonable change, and something that should have been done a long time ago. I understand the concern about the classes specific to a trade, but maybe there are for profit groups/schools that offer the same training. Pretty certain there are specific schools for auto mechanics, for example.
It's a good idea, but I don't know if it saves the taxpayers much money. I think these costs will just shift to the adult education division of the school district. Instead of taking their class from CSN, people will have to go back for their GED.
how about requiring: citizenship, vaccinations, high school, a min SAT or ACT test score, and no connections to terror orgs?
CSN, by far the largest higher education institution in the state with 44,000 students, has an abysmal graduation rate. It recently doubled to 9 percent.
If you subsidize "higher" education, don't be surprised when THOUSANDS show up for the rave.
CSN President Michael Richards makes ~$300K. If you subsidize "higher" education, don't be surprised when educated derelicts LINE UP outside for "work".
Students have to pay for their classes prior to attending whether through financial aide or other means. Usually 2 weeks before classes start. It is a public school. If the administration can't or won't make the adjustments needed to keep the school operating in the black then maybe the school needs to be audited to see where the money is going. I pay in cash for my classes so that I don't have a big bill in the end if I can't afford it then I don't go that semester plain and simple.
Check out the Standards for graduation in some of the high schools this year Start with Rancho High they are not allowed to fail a student ,,per the Administration (Blew my mind). The only way for them to fail is to not show up for class or do any work at all