April 22, 2012

Education for All? 2-Year Colleges Struggle to Preserve Their Mission

2-Year Colleges Fight to Save Access for All 4

Noah Berger for The Chronicle

It's become harder for some students to enroll in English-as-a-second-language courses at San Joaquin Delta College. The institution has eliminated its lower-level ESL courses because of budget cuts.

By Jennifer González

The open-door policy at community colleges is unique in American higher education. It allows all comers—a retired grandmother, an Army veteran, a laid-off machinist—to learn a skill or get a credential. That broad access—the bedrock of the community-college system—has prepared hundreds of millions of people for transfer to four-year colleges or entry into the work force.

But these days, the sector finds itself in a fight to save that signature trademark. As