More Students Seeing Value in 2-Year Colleges

There was a time when community colleges were considered to be places for students who couldn’t get accepted into four-year universities straight out of high school.

But with one out of 10 college students nationwide attending a community college in California, according to Yvonne Bodle, a public affairs officer with the Ventura County Community College District, the state’s two-year schools have become an academic force to be reckoned with.

Statewide, Ventura County ranks fifth in the number of high school graduates who immediately enroll in local two-year colleges.

It’s easy to understand, say students reared in Ventura County.

“It’s beautiful here,” said Cara Doyle, a senior at Newbury Park High School who plans to attend Moorpark College.

And while the county still has its share of students who shun the state’s two-year schools, many others are finding reasons to stick around.

“People feel like they are settling for less going to Moorpark [College], and you’re not,” Doyle said. “You have the rest of your life to live away from home.”

David Burge was approached by a Cal Lutheran University track coach who had hoped to recruit him, but Burge is planning to enroll at Moorpark College in the fall.

Burge, also a Newbury Park High senior, wants to become a firefighter and expects to take advantage of the county’s firefighter training programs.

“I don’t want to go to a four-year [university] right away,” said Burge, 18. “I’ll transfer after I get my general ed done. You have to do those anyway.”

Counselors who have watched decades of students pass through their offices say the culture of the community college is changing. Once considered a last resort for borderline students and a best hope for remedial ones, the two-year college is now viewed as a smart choice by a growing number of students.

Nearly 43% of the county’s graduating seniors enrolled in a community college in the fall of 1997, according to the state’s most current data. Statewide, the average approaches 35%.

Some schools, such as Thousand Oaks High, sent more than half of their seniors to a local community college that year.

“It’s OK to go to community colleges now,” said Jack Loritz, a counselor at the high school. “Years and years ago, it was kind of taboo. More and more, people are discovering the real value of it.”

Since 1980, the cost of college has doubled. Students not jumping out of their skin to get out of the house will often take their parents’ cue to save a little money and stay home. Community college costs $12 per unit.

Although California’s public colleges and universities lowered student fees by about 5% last fall, costs generally run between $1,500 and $15,000. The cost of college is a major factor for families even in Simi Valley, where the median income is $60,067 per year, second highest in the county.

Dustin Pierson, a senior at Simi Valley High School, said his parents were happy to hear about the money they will be saving after he picked Moorpark College.

“It’s a lot cheaper,” said Pierson, 18. “I can get my general education done for half the price.”

Pierson, whose older brother also went to Moorpark College, plans to transfer to Cal State Northridge and study whatever will help him “make a lot of money.”

Students like Pierson who want to transfer to a four-year university also have a better shot at getting there from a community college than from another four-year school or straight from high school. The universities are required to give community college students top priority.

“If you really want to go to UCLA,” said Jody Melanson, a counselor at Simi Valley High, “you’ll go to junior college first.”

Spending two years at home and adjusting to the workload of college can help students make a more successful transition when they do transfer. Many high school seniors, counselors say, aren’t ready to pack up, move away and start a new life.

Seniors often begin their final year of high school eager to apply to East Coast colleges, but as reality sets in, they often opt for something closer to home, counselors say. Of that small percentage that do go away, some realize they weren’t prepared to make the adjustment.

“I see a lot of students after the first year at a four-year university say, ‘I’m not ready for this. I want to come home,’ ” said Joan Oliva, a counselor at Buena High School in Ventura.

Students and educators are hopeful that the new Cal State Channel Islands will finally bring Ventura County the best of both worlds--home and a public four-year university. High school counselors say it’s about time.

“It’s been a huge problem for us for 30 years,” said Robert Collins, counselor at Ventura High School. “We’ve been at a disadvantage.”

Ida Nunnery, who will graduate from Hueneme High School this month with a 3.7 grade-point average, says she loves her hometown and wants to stay put. The 18-year-old intends to get an office job and enroll in classes at Oxnard College.

“It’s probably not like the university, but it will help me to get started,” she said.

To fulfill her dreams of becoming an accountant, Nunnery knows she might have to go to a four-year school, which could mean leaving the county to earn a degree. But, she’s sure she’ll be back. After all, she said, her entire family lives in the area.

Many of Nunnery’s friends are also planning to enroll at the local college in the fall. Their reasons are similar: either they can’t afford other options or they don’t want to leave.

Experts say community college enrollment should continue to grow as public four-year universities become increasingly overcrowded, the costs continue to rise and a degree is vital in the marketplace.

And with the so-called Tidal Wave II, the deluge of baby boomers’ children pursuing a higher education in the coming years, community colleges will be hit first and hardest, said Joni Finney, vice president of the San Jose-based National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

But community colleges should be seen as the gateway to further learning, rather than a last stop before the work force, Finney said.

That’s the way Whitney Cooley, a senior at Newbury Park High, sees it. Her older sister went to Moorpark College, then UCLA, and now works as a loan processor.

Cooley plans to major in sociology and do anything that doesn’t involve “sitting in a cubbyhole all day and typing on a computer.”

The important thing to remember, she said, is not to fall through the cracks and get stuck. “I’ve lived out here forever. I like it, but I do want to move out and go away,” said Cooley, 18. “I think that Moorpark will help me along the way.”