community colleges Archives - The Campaign for College Opportunity

Sep 16
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Do You Know the New Community College Chancellor’s Top Priorities?

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By: Olga Jimenez, Communications Associate, Campaign for College Opportunity

On July 18th, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors selected Eloy Ortiz Oakley to become the system’s next Chancellor. Oakley will be the first Latino to serve as Chancellor of a system that serves over 2.3 million students, 42% of whom are Latino.

Eloy Ortiz Oakley is the type of leader that pushes the status quo. He is passionate, committed, and innovative in his work to ensure more students are afforded a college education and the limitless possibilities that education offers.

A product of the California Community Colleges, Ortiz Oakley has a personal stake in seeing the system prosper. After all, the system has educated three of his children both at Oxnard College and Irvine Valley Community College with a fourth on the way. Eloy recognizes the impact a community college education has had in his life and that of his family. In his first speech after the announcement of his selection as Chancellor he shared, “Community colleges run deep in my family. It is amazing to think that one generation ago there wasn’t much thought about going to college and now, there’s nothing but the thought of going to college.”  Read More

Mar 23
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Secretary of State Alex Padilla Reflects on the Importance of Going the Distance on Transfer Reform for California Students

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By: Secretary of State Alex Padilla

California has made tremendous progress in building a community college transfer pathway that helps students reach their educational goals and receive a college degree. That’s a big difference from where we were just six years ago when confusing and conflicting requirements kept so many California community college students from transferring to a four-year university. For those students fortunate enough to transfer, the burdensome process drove up their costs and the time it took to complete a bachelor’s degree. Even fewer students transferred with an Associate Degree to show for all of their hard work at their community college.
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Feb 12
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We Can’t Live Without You…Really…

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By: Olga Jimenez, Communications Associate, The Campaign for College Opportunity

Dear California Acceleration Project,

As Valentine’s day nears, we wanted to take a minute to express our ardent admiration for you in true Little Rascals, Alfalfa fashion!

You are tackling one of the biggest and most important issues facing students at community colleges –  helping them get through remedial courses prepared enough to succeed in college level course work.  You have demonstrated that faculty led reforms and innovations are the way forward.  And you have demonstrated this dedication to students beyond the ones you serve at your own colleges in the hopes that ALL California community college students placed in remedial courses can succeed through the redesign of developmental English and math curriculum. Read More

Oct 02
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Nationwide Free Community College Assessed by an Expert

By Campaign for College Opportunity

Communications Manager Jamal E. Mazyck

Long Beach City College District Superintendent-President Eloy Ortiz Oakley has been quite vocal about his position in support of the recently proposed America’s College Promise initiative from the Obama Administration. The proposal aims to make two years of community college free for responsible students and highlights the need for two-year institutions to strengthen their student success programs. On the heels of the launch of Heads Up America, an independent campaign to raise awareness on the significance of community colleges, I sat down with President Oakley, who helped launch The Long Beach Promise with former president of California State University Long Beach F. King Alexander, and Long Beach Unified School District Superintendent Christopher J. Steinhauser. The initiative is designed to improve college preparation, access and completion for locals. Among other guarantees, the Long Beach Promise offers a free year of tuition to Long Beach high school students at Long Beach City College. Upon community college completion, students are then offered guaranteed admission to CSU-Long Beach. Most recently, the City of Long Beach became involved by offering internships to students in this unique pipeline. I discussed how President Oakley’s academic and professional career path has shaped his view on the prospect of free community college for responsible students.

 

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Sep 15
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Research Alert | 2015 The Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Report

The Campaign for College Opportunity in partnership with Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles today released “The State of Higher Education in California: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander,” report which examines how the state’s 6.3 million Asian Americans and 347,501 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, representing one in seven Californians, are faring in higher education.
The Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community is the fastest growing racial/ethnic group in California and when AANHPI go to college in California, they overwhelmingly attend the state’s public colleges and universities.  Eighty-seven percent of Asian Americans and 73% of NHPI start their college career at a public institution. Nearly half of all Asian Americans (47%) and 55% of NHPI start at a California community college.
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Aug 05
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Talks with United States Department of Education Under Secretary Ted Mitchell in Los Angeles and Sacramento

On July 27th and 28th, the Campaign for College Opportunity (CCO) was honored to host United States Department of Education Under Secretary Ted Mitchell in Los Angeles and Sacramento. The two day event brought together business, civil rights, community, and legislative leaders to meet with the Under Secretary on pressing California public higher education issues and the work of the Obama Administration supporting access and success in higher education for more students.

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Jul 16
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State budget offers ‘epic opportunity’ for California community colleges

Written by: Richard Duran, former President of Oxnard College and. Brad C. Phillips, President and CEO of the Institute for Evidenced-Based Change.

This post originally appeared as a commentary in EdSource on July 2, 2015.

We call it an epic opportunity.The budget deal agreed to by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature last month has record increases for education, particularly community colleges. Some call it a windfall. Others call it catch up from deep budget slashing during the recession.

The infusion of money combined with untenable economic and racial inequity provides an extraordinary opportunity to slay some sacred cows and status quo thinking.

With the clarity and liberty of retirement and experience helping colleges use data to improve student success, we have some suggestions to maximize each dollar:
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