EXPOSURE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

A student is responsible for his or her education in any higher education setting. However exposure is of the greatest importance. And access to good materials is another necessity. The quality of professors is fourth. The requirements are 5th. Expectations by students (and family) are first and Expectations by the school are 6th. Financial support and environmental support (Family, infrastructure etc..). Motivation is 7th. Challenges are 8th. Rewards are 9th. Integration and actualization of knowledge with applications are 10th. Progress Status is 11th. Recognition is 12th.

From the impromptu Carl Nicolas scale :) here, one can see that if a student means business, being "place bound" is not a great handicap. One's previous preparation can be. Even though great opportunities can be tapped into at Elite Universities. Social exposure might be more challenging at Elite universities also.

One has to admit though that some schools can bring you down, not only because of the limitations of resources, but also because of the policies in place or lack thereof. The limitations of professors can limit the exposure of students to great resources of knowledge. Even though we live in a time of democratization of knowledge, general acess etc, one needs to be guided, this is not to say that self learning is impossible. And also the whole system at a college or university may keep you busy with irrelevant endeavors and sink you into a mechanical superstructure of educational processes, where the orientation of students may be skewed toward relatively small achievements, like it is frequently the case at small community colleges.

Community colleges should be abolished. Either you have remedial colleges or colleges. The idea of teaching student the same classes at a substandard level is not appealing to me

HIGHER EDUCATION CHALLLENGES AT THE BASE

I would have called the scale I came up with:) the scale of priorities in Higher Education. Now: : If you think (Higher) Education is expensive, try ignorance" Derek Bok, and I agree. One should do whatever is in one's power to get an education, a good education, with a good recognition, and be worth it, by demonstrating it in one's endeavors and with one's productions. It starts from there, one has to want an education badly, and an education that is marketable. The government also has to want a citizenry that is very educated and competitive. In some countries, like France by example, Higher Education is literally free in general, but it is understood that not only France wants to be competitive but also that it is better to keep y0ung people in school for a longer time so they may be prepared well, because after all France is not geographically big, and is almost saturated with immigration, and opportunities are more scare than in the US. Here there are more opportunities to work for young people. Higher Education in the US is more less subsidized and this is a more capitalist society. A balance should be found, the middle class tax bracket should be taken into account and their expenses also, in order to provide help, because they have difficulties to, and they spend and help the economy grow. Merit should an important factor in deciding financial aid for everyone, taking into account needs also. In terms of access to great schools, needs should definitely be considered but merit should be the deciding factor. Students should be able to prove themselves, and that would be an incentive for less great schools to perform, or for students there to perfor, which would raise their school standing. The focus thouh should be on the capacity of whatever schools to help students do much better, even elite schools. States and Cities, with the help of Federal Government, should try their best to keep schools affordable, with both financial help to students and to schools. However competition should be kept alive, and schools should receive funding according to their performance, not through grades, but according to the marketability of their graduates, rated by the States, the Cities and Employers in general, through tests and performances on the job, and Graduate Schools (Admissions). Community Colleges should be abolished and be replaced by Colleges of Adulthood Preparation for Accesibility in the Business of Life through Education: CAPABLE which should be divided in three section: 1) Associate College of Technology: ACT, 2) Associate College of Humanities and Social Sciences Knowledge: AHSSK and the College of Remedial Humanities Education: COHRE. Everyone and Everything in their place for the relevant purpose. COHRE should be made free and accessible to everyone past 21. ACT and AHSSK would be offering Associate degrees.And Employers both public and private should be sponsoring both their actual and future employees to those schools through contracts negotiated with the school directly, and through Financial Aid directly to Students, with the help of Government Stipends :) :) :)

THE CAPABLE COHRE PROGRAM

And I am not joking:) The idea here is to instill three notions into the conception of these former:) Community Colleges: FOCUS, EXPECTATIONS and ACCOUNTABILITY. (A little correction in the name of CAPABLE: COLLEGE of ADULTHOOD PREPARATION for ACCESSIBILITY into the BUSINESS of LIFE through EDUCATION).

Everyone in a CAPABLE School should graduate from COHRE which would be a one year minimum program that can be completed in one semester after exams, and everyone admitted to a CAPABLE College with a GED and/or High school diploma should get their COHRE diploma, which would raise the standing of these CAPABLE Colleges. And then, only then would they be allowed into an ACT or AHSSK program. Hey :) I am perfecting the name COHRE, It would mean: College of Opportunities through Humanities Remedial Education. That would give :) standing to a COHRE diploma. Even students at four year colleges might not be at the level, unless they completed a good, very good freshman year, not outstanding :) . COHRE would be prep school for the masses, the educated masses, the competitive workforce.

COMMUNITY COLLEGES

The problems with community colleges: students spend money taking a lot of classes there and when they try to transfer those credits to 4 year colleges, generally they lose i/3 one third of those classes. And It's not that they find good jobs with those degrees in general, it's almost like everyone knows tacitely that apart from some fields, community colleges are remedial colleges. And the classes taught there seem not to go all the way into the subjects, that's why most of them are not accepted by 4 years colleges.

Something is definitely wrong with community colleges: students should go through remedials before they attack higher level subjects, and then they should be thought those subjects at the same level they teach them at 4 years college. And if it is technology that they're being taught, it should be at par with what employers require in order to be competitive, they should be taught and should be expected to reach the highest level. Some programs are good like some of the nursing programs.

I understand they are community colleges to serve the communities, but they should be expected to serve these communities at the highest level. They shouldn't be expected to bring themselves to the level of these communities in some fields. They should be able to help those communities be competitive. I don't like the term community college anyway, it sounds like a loser name because the communities that need those kinds of colleges tend to have a lot of needs, and the kinds of colleges seem to be called to be stuck to the standards at the reach of these communities. They need capable colleges for capable people. That's what they need.

They should be called CAPABLE CORE COLLEGES at the service of the community :) . And before students are admitted into ACT ( ASSOCIATE COLLEGE of TECHNOLOGY... and APPLIED SCIENCES for ACTAS ) , AHSSC ( ASSOCIATE HUMANITIES and SOCIAL SCIENCES COLLEGE), and CCHANCES (CORE COLLEGE of HEALTH ARTS, NURSING, CLINICAL EDUCATION and SCIENCES), They should get their COHRE ( COLLEGE OPPORTUNITIES with HUMANITIES REMEDIAL EDUCATION) diploma.