Senior and Community Colleges: What are the Stakes?

ABSTRACT

In January 1999 the trustees of the City University of New York created a new policy requiring that students pass three skills assessment tests in order to be admitted to baccalaureate programs. Remedial services are to be eliminated from these programs.

This brief paper analyzes the impact of the resolution on the distribution of entering freshmen across CUNY's senior and community colleges. The assessment is put in context by considering the educational and economic consequences of placement at each collegiate level.

It is estimated that the new admissions requirements will have striking consequences for the placement of entering freshmen. Eighty percent will begin college in associate degree programs.

The equity implications of this new stratification of freshmen are considered. Overall educational and economic attainments will likely be diminished. The effects will fall heavily on all groups, but minority students--blacks, Hispanics, and Asians--will be most affected.

Senior and Community Colleges: What are the Stakes?

Background

Over the second half of this century, spectacular expansions of higher education have occurred in many societies, especially the advanced industrial ones. In the United States enrollments surged more than 500 percent between 1950 and 1995, jumping from around 2.3 to 14.3 million.¹

Increasing social diversity in college student populations has been associated with this growth. Racial and ethnic minorities, women, low income, and older students have comprised an ever-larger share of total college enrollment.²

Educational expansion has been a contentious process. As access to college has broadened, controversy has grown. A key theme is the issue of academic "standards." According to some critics, the quality of baccalaureate programs in general and of elite universities in particular is threatened by growing demand for college among newer, nontraditional students who often do not have adequate preparation for college.³ Whatever the merits of that view, the community college movement has--arguably-- played a strategic protective role by diverting masses of students from the upper tiers of higher education, thus dulling the sharp edges of conflict and--as some see it-- protecting academic "excellence."⁴

The role community colleges play in American higher education has itself been an issue of controversy. On the one hand, proponents argue that these institutions are engines of democratic access to higher education, providing a foot in the door for those who otherwise would have no chance. Moreover, for those with higher aspirations, community colleges, through their transfer function, are touted as steppingstones to senior colleges and bachelor's degrees.

On the other side, many are critical of community colleges, contending that, on average, they lower students' ultimate educational attainments. As a consequence, say the critics, the socio-economic life-chances of community college students--indexed by the status of their jobs and their future earnings--are significantly diminished.

Substantial evidence supports the critics’ contentions. With respect to educational attainment, Dougherty's (1994, p.53) careful review of national studies indicates that, "students who enter community colleges receive significantly fewer bachelor's degrees and years of education than students of similar background, ability, and aspirations who enter four-year colleges" (our underlining).⁵

Furthermore, there are substantial differences between AA and BA recipients in economic outcomes. Dougherty (1994, p. 61) concludes that students graduating with community college associate's degrees, "…on average make considerably less money

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than bachelor's degree holders, even after one has controlled for differences in social background, high school achievement, college experiences, and occupational traits."⁶

Research leads us to conclude, then, that high stakes are attached to the level at which one enters college--in a bachelor's or associate's program. Because entering a community college decreases the chances of completing a BA, it also reduces the likelihood of earning post-graduate degrees, since the bachelor's degree is essential for inclusion in the pool of those eligible to go on to graduate schools. In turn, completion of the BA and more advanced degrees provides access to the better-rewarded jobs.

These considerations have fundamental equity implications. If, for example, ethnic minority students (Black, Hispanic, and Asian-Americans) are more likely than others to be placed in associate degree programs, they are the students whose educational and economic chances will be most diminished.

Level of college placement not only influences life chances among individual students; it also has an aggregate economic impact on the community. For instance, if thousands of students start college in baccalaureate programs, their aggregate earnings over the course of their work careers will far exceed the amount they would earn if they had begun at the associate level. In turn, the amount of aggregate earnings affects the pool of taxable earnings. Overall then, the higher the rate of placement into BA programs, the greater the economic bonus to local, state, and federal governments.

The Changing Distribution of Students in CUNY's Senior & Community Colleges.⁷

Over the last 30 years the multi-campus CUNY system has reflected much of the general pattern we spoke of at the outset: rising enrollment, growing social diversity, and rancorous controversy over "equity versus excellence." The fundamental catalyst for these developments was the launching of the open-admissions policy in 1970.⁸

Although open-access policies had been in place for a long time in American higher education, CUNY's model had unique features. One of the most important was its baccalaureate emphasis. Open admissions went much further than other programs in attempting to create not simply access, but access to senior colleges. The CUNY blueprint aimed to do this both through its admissions procedures and by means of guaranteed transfer (with full credit) for all community college graduates.⁹

The Original Open-Admissions Period, 1970-75.

In terms of the initial placement of entering freshmen, the open-admissions policy achieved its aim of being a bachelor’s oriented program. The majority of the 1970 entrants--57 percent--started in senior colleges, and in the last year before the 1975-76 fiscal crisis, most new freshmen continued to be so placed.

Although most freshmen began in bachelor's programs during this period, there were visible ethnic inequalities in placement. White freshmen were more likely to be found in senior colleges than black and Hispanic students. Nonetheless, as the original open

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admissions period wore on, minority entrants came to be represented in senior colleges in about the same proportions as whites (Lavin, Alba, and Silberstein, 1981, Chap. 4).

The baccalaureate-oriented nature of CUNY’s open admissions program stands as far more equitable than California's famous universal access model of higher education. In the latter, the proportion of blacks and Hispanics in community colleges was ten times as great as at its university level in the late 1960s. By contrast, the minority proportion at CUNY community colleges was not even twice as large as that in its senior colleges.¹⁰

Influence of the 1975-76 Fiscal Crisis.

When New York City teetered on the edge of bankruptcy during the fiscal crisis of 1975-76, important modifications were made in CUNY admissions and fiscal policies. As a consequence of more stringent standards for entry to senior colleges beginning in 1976, and also because tuition charges were imposed at that time, the representation of entering freshmen in senior colleges plummeted from 53 percent (in 1975) to 37 percent.¹¹ By 1980, after enrollments had had time to stabilize, 33 percent of freshmen entered senior colleges. The research literature would suggest that this shrinkage in the proportion of students beginning in BA programs led to a reduction of their life chances.¹²

The fall-off in entry to senior colleges was sharper for minority students than for whites: the decline was 45 percent for Hispanics, 35 percent for black entrants, but only 23 percent for whites (Lavin and Hyllegard, 1996, pp. 216-17).

From 1980 onward, the distribution of freshmen across the two tiers of CUNY remained fairly stable. Thus, as late as 1997, 37 percent of freshmen entered bachelor's programs. In terms of freshman enrollments then, the University had become an institution centered around its community colleges.

New Admissions Policy and Projected Impact On Placement.

In January 1999 CUNY trustees created a new admissions policy requiring that applicants pass all three skills assessment tests (in math, reading, and writing) in order to be admitted to a bachelor's program. Projections show that this new policy will have a profound impact on senior-college enrollments, lowering them somewhere between 53 percent and 44 percent.¹³

What will happen to the large number of students who will be shut out of bachelor's programs? Will they be excluded from higher education? The trustee resolution does not bar them from remedial courses still offered in community colleges, and thus a large proportion will likely to move to these schools. There is, of course, no definitive way of knowing in advance how these students will respond. Some will feel discouraged even from applying to college. Others will apply to- and be accepted in private colleges outside the CUNY system.¹⁴ However, given the limited economic resources of many, it is most likely that the overwhelming majority of those barred from senior colleges will take the community college route.

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We have made an assessment of the effects of the new policy on the distribution of students across CUNY's senior and community colleges. We have focussed on the 1997 freshman class, estimating how its students would be distributed if the senior-college entrants who did not pass all three skills tests had instead been placed in community colleges. The reader will remember that 37 percent of the entire 1997 freshman class actually entered senior colleges in that year. Had the new admissions policy had been in effect, only 20 percent would have entered senior colleges and 80 percent would have been placed in community colleges (see Table 1).

In contrast to the situation at the outset of open admissions, where 57 percent of all first-time freshmen began in a senior college, the new trustee admissions resolution will bring about a sea change in the stratification of freshmen across the senior and community college tiers. Indeed, this dramatic reduction in the proportion of freshmen entering BA programs stands in stark contrast to the national picture: only 20 percent of CUNY freshmen will enter baccalaureate study compared with 53 percent of freshmen in the United States. CUNY has clearly stepped out of the national mainstream.

Ethnicity is a theme that looms large in considering the effects of the new admissions regulations. All groups will be hit hard, but the effects will fall with special severity on minority students. Thus, while the new admissions regulations promise to shift almost 30 percent of whites out of senior institutions and into community colleges, more than half of black, Hispanic, and Asian students will be diverted to the latter (calculations made from table 1).

Summary and Conclusions

In university systems such as CUNY, changes in college admission policies trigger changes in students’ economic prospects. After 1975 access to more valuable bachelor’s programs narrowed at CUNY, as more stringent admissions criteria and tuition policy brought about a 30 percent shift in freshman enrollment, away from senior colleges and into community colleges. Previously a majority of freshmen had entered the former. Afterward, most started at the latter.

The new 1999 admissions policy will likely bring about an even more dramatic decline, lowering freshman enrollment in senior colleges from 37 percent of the entering class to 20 percent, an overall reduction of 46 percent.

Over time, it can be expected that this shift will seriously diminish rates of BA and postgraduate attainment in New York City. Since it is axiomatic in social science research that educational attainment is the single most important influence on job status and earnings, many thousands of individuals will earn much less as a result of CUNY’s new admissions policy. Because of lower earnings, the aggregate pool of taxable income will undoubtedly decline substantially, both at the federal, state, and municipal levels. These negative effects will fall with particular harshness on minority groups. It is difficult to understand why a policy with such negative economic effects would be implemented.

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It is also very hard to grasp the appropriateness of a policy that will exclude high proportions of successful senior-college entrants. As our previous research has documented, over 40 percent of white and over half of black, Hispanic, and Asian bachelor’s recipients took remedial courses when they first entered CUNY (Lavin and Weininger, 1998).

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¹⁷Calculated from table 180 (U.S. Department of Education, 1997).

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References

Brint, Steven and Jerome Karabel. 1989. The Diverted Dream: Community Colleges and the Promise of Equal Opportunity in  America, 1900-1985. New York: Oxford University Press.

Dougherty, Kevin. 1994. The Contradictory College: The Conflicting Origins, Impacts, and Futures of the Community College. Albany: SUNY Press.

______________ and Floyd M. Hammack. 1990. Education and Society: A Reader. San Diego: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.

Grubb, W. Norton. 1999 (forthcoming). Learning and Earning in the Middle: The Economic Benefits of Sub-baccalaureate Education. New York: Institute on Education and the Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University.

Lavin, David E., Richard D. Alba, and Richard A. Silberstein. 1981. Right Versus Privilege: The Open Admissions Experiment at the City University of New York. New York: The Free Press.

_____________ and David Hyllegard. 1996. Changing the Odds: Open Admissions and the Life Chances of the Disadvantaged. New Haven: Yale University Press.

_____________ and Weininger, Elliot. 1999. The 1999 Trustee Resolution on Access to the City University of New York: Its Impact on Enrollment in Senior Colleges. Ph.D. Program in Sociology, Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York.

_______________________________, 1998. Proposed New Admissions Criteria at the City University of New York: Ethnic and Enrollment Consequences. Testimony Presented to the New York City Council Committee on Higher Education. March.

University Commission On Admissions. 1969. Report and Recommendations to the Board of Higher Education. New York: Board of Higher Education.

U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistic. Digest of Education Statistics, 1997, NCES 98-015. Washington, D.C. 1997.

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Wall Street Journal, March 17, 1970.

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Table 1. Trend in the Percentage of First-time Freshmen Entering CUNY Bachelor's Programs, by Year and Ethnicity¹

^{Ethnicity                     1970             1980             1990             1997            1997 Estimate2}

^{Whites                         60                     46                 43                 45                     32}

^{Blacks                         37                     24                  30                 29                     14}

^{Hispanics                    47                     26                 35                 33                     16}

^{Asians                         ***3                ***3                56                 53                     26}

^{ALL STUDENTS       57                     33                   38                 37                     20}

³Asians not included in CUNY census data for these years. due to low number of cases.