Community colleges are due for an operational overhaul to correct stagnating completion rates. A decade of research into some of the country’s leading institutions is driving the latest design work, says Hana Lahr, of the Community College Research Center, on The University Business Podcast.
The whole college guided pathway is an operational framework that helps students more confidently choose a career path that’s right for them. Guided pathways also tailor support services to each student’s diverse set of circumstances, such as their income level and employment status.
“Removing barriers is really important, but we also want to focus on helping students explore, choose and enter a program that’s aligned with their interests.”
The four pillars of the guided pathways model include:
- Map students’ academic pathways: Help students understand what courses they need to take and what they will learn.
- Promote career exploration: Provide students with self-assessments on their interests and help them understand the full breadth of career opportunities.
- Strengthen advisor support: Keep college students on track to completion.
- Connect learning to workforce: Ensure the content of students’ academic programs equips them for post-graduation success.
Using the guided pathways model, Southwest Wisconsin Technical College created a personalized financial plan for each student, tailored to their course and work schedules, tuition, rent or mortgage, and other expenses. Counselors then connected students with scholarships and grants to cover outstanding balances.
The college’s graduation rates are now 20 percentage points higher than the national average, and graduates earn nearly $14,000 more than the average regional hire.
“They’ve done a lot of work to ensure that their programs are leading to jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage,” Lahr says. “In programs that may be lagging behind, they’ve taken steps to strengthen those programs to ensure students are getting in-demand skills that employers are hiring for.”
Lahr and four of the center’s other researchers published the book, More Essential Than Ever: Community College Pathways to Educational and Career Success, detailing 10 years’ worth of research into guided pathways at hundreds of institutions.
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