“The greatest challenges we face in a changing world are those of perceptions.” Billy Mills, a 1964 Olympic gold medalist, shared his philosophy of self-empowerment with me and a theatre full of fellow coaches and student-athletes on the campus of Coffeyville Community College in Kansas in 2009.
Over a decade later, this quote applies to the opportunity for community colleges to seize the moment and ascend to a position of prominence amidst the rapidly changing higher education landscape. International students stand to benefit in ways that can be life-changing and of intergenerational impact from exposure to the community college transfer pathway.
Independent educational consultants (IECs) collectively possess the power as influencers and educators to simultaneously increase access for international students and expand the reach of community colleges through heightening awareness. Converting the road less traveled to the road traveled will involve encounters with skeptics, and efforts may be met with resistance. There will be myths to dispel, minds to change, and misconceptions to overcome until the community college transfer pathway becomes recognized and respected as a prudent option. What can IECs do to position more international students for success via community college?
Educate Yourself to Educate Others
The airline industry cautions you to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others. Similar logic applies here. Challenging yourself to become proficient in this area will make your IEC practice more inclusive and allow you to serve a more globally diverse population of students. Study and familiarize yourself with community colleges in the same way you research four-year institutions. Explore institutional websites, follow official social media pages, and contact community college representatives to ask questions or seek clarification. Include community college visits on your campus tour circuits and, perhaps most importantly, talk to students.
In my experience, international students are eager and enthusiastic to share their story, especially to empower other international students. These under-told narratives are some of the most inspiring and courageous stories you will ever hear. Keeping in touch with students after they transfer will provide a network of near peers who can offer guidance to future clients. Immersing yourself in this community of students will allow you to understand their lived experiences and discover resources and opportunities, as well as obstacles and hardships, so you can aptly guide the next student.
Diversify College Lists
A primary function of IECs is the curation of a best-fit list of college options. A balanced list features an assortment of institutions matching the student’s academic, financial, and social profile across a spectrum of admission probability. For international students especially, including community colleges on the list drastically expands the range of affordable options. Presenting a client with the direct cost comparison of a four-year institution versus a two-to-four-year option can be eye-opening, and the savings could be even greater if the student earns scholarships because of community college.
How do you select the community colleges to add to a list? Consider the student’s target four-year institutions and work backwards. Jennie Kent and Jeff Levy’s “Financial Aid for Nonresident Alien Undergraduates” chart is a tremendous resource for investigating affordable four-year options. With the target four-year institution in mind, reverse engineer the path by researching which community colleges serve as pipelines or feeder campuses.
Contact the transfer and international student admission counselors at the four-year institution for recommendations on community colleges where future international students could get their start. These representatives frequently visit community colleges for recruitment purposes (sometimes even holding office hours on those campuses) and often know as much about surrounding community colleges as they do their own institution. They can speak to the transferability of courses, articulation agreements or bridge programs, and on-campus housing, and advise on the optimal plan to maximize scholarship and financial aid eligibility. The prospective student gains an advocate and advisor through early exposure to the admission counselor and avoids being a stealth mode applicant.
The community college pathway is only a choice for students who are aware it is an option, and IECs are perfectly positioned to create this familiarity.
Provide Evidence of Rigor
An unfortunate misunderstanding about community college is that open access somehow equates to low quality. For evidence of rigor, one doesn’t need to look much further than the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) chapter on the community college campus. With nearly 1,300 chapters worldwide, chances are there’s a chapter of the official honor society of two-year colleges on a campus near you.
For nearly 70 percent of community colleges, Phi Theta Kappa’s Honors in Action program serves as the honors program. Students earn an invitation to join the international honor society based on academic achievement, and members gain access to a wealth of resources and wraparound support services. Members engage in personal and professional development, campaign for leadership positions, compete for individual awards and chapter recognition, participate in academic conferences, and benefit from increased access to scholarships. Students also gain opportunities for publication in PTK’s journal of undergraduate research, Civic Scholar, and in PTK’s online literary journal, Nota Bene.
Accepting membership in PTK can help international students find their identity and gain confidence within an inclusive, supportive community of high-achieving peers. Phi Theta Kappa chapters are even more diverse than the colleges they serve in terms of the percentage of international students represented among its membership.
Share Outcomes
It’s hard to argue with living proof. Parents and students may be more receptive to the community college pathway if they have real and current success stories. Take for example four international students who assumed leadership roles in PTK and earned associate degrees from community colleges in New Jersey, Kansas, California, and Oklahoma. Collectively, they saved half a million dollars on their educations, and all four transferred to out-of-state universities to pursue their bachelor’s degrees.
Joining PTK places students in a smaller pool to maximize opportunities for exclusive scholarships from the organization in addition to eligibility for designated PTK scholarships at 800+ four-year institutions. Also, over 80 percent of last year’s recipients of the prestigious $40,000-per-year Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship were PTK members.
Many students find themselves with a much broader range of four-year college options after community college than they were facing out of high school. Highlighting the scholarships that students receive because of community college will strengthen the value proposition and appeal.
It’s the role of IECs to help international families understand the merit of the community college transfer pathway. A list of college options that truly reflects the full spectrum of financial fit should include community colleges. Help international families to understand this is not a risky proposition (in some states, credit is guaranteed by law to transfer), and the value proposition of saving thousands of dollars can be life-altering. Planned transfer is thoughtful, intentional, and strategic; it is a calculated and informed decision. When perceptions change, students win.
By Heather Yush, MS, Associate Director of College & Transfer Relations, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society