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Focus Leadership Recruitment: Community Colleges
For those of you who know Young People For's initial Fellowship Program model, you know we started out focusing exclusively on four-year colleges and universities. In 2006, we started investing in community college students, who tend to be more connected to their communities than four-year college students.
The make up of community college students is disproportionately comprised of higher percentages of lower-income students, first generation college students, and students of color. Making a strategic investment in and providing appropriate resources to community college students is a critical step to building up strong community leaders and activists.
Did you know?
* 46% of all U.S. undergraduates are enrolled in a two-year or community college: Highly competitive and expensive four-year college admissions make two-year colleges more accessible to students from lower-income and families of color.
* Disproportionately, there are more lower income, students of color on community college campuses than in four-year institutions: Of all African American students in the U.S., 47% are enrolled in a two-year college; of Hispanic, 56% and of Asian/Pacific Islander, 48%.
* Just under half of all students in community college are non-credit, meaning they are attending college for the purpose of advancing their career or education for its own sake.
* Transfer rates to four-year institutions are high, indicating a competitive academic environment that compels students to excel in the classroom and get involved in the campus community.