2.2 Who Are Our Students?

Human potential is everywhere throughout our state...I am privileged to serve in a system of higher education that believes in this potential and that proudly proclaims that we serve the top 100 percent of students in California regardless or immigration status, skin color, religion, or how or whom they love. California community colleges are the gateway to a higher education for the majority of people in our state and serve as the state’s engine of economic mobility. That is why our colleges are so important to the future of all Californians and why the future of California is so closely tied to our ability to capture the potential of all our students.

-Eloy Ortiz Oakley, Chancellor for the California Community Colleges

Opportunities & Challenges

Community colleges serve as a primary pathway into postsecondary education for low income, marginalized, and historically underserved students. For example, 71% of Black and Latino men begin their experiences in public postsecondary education at community colleges (Wood, Harris III, & White, 2015, p. x).

At the same time, these students can be more significantly impacted by external pressures and challenges. For example:

  • Community college students "have significant family responsibilities that constrain their time for school, as does their need to work long hours. Rather than relying primarily on their parents for financial support, students frequently help support their parents or have children of their own. Money is sufficiently tight that basic needs like food and housing can be compromised, and the additional costs of being a student – such as books and transportation – are difficult to cover" (TICAS, 2016 Links to an external site.).
  • 60% of community college students work more than 20 hours per week and 25% work more than 35 hours per week ("With their Whole Lives Ahead of Them Links to an external site."). 
  • "Compared to students at public and nonprofit four-year colleges, community college students are lower-income and receive less financial aid. More than half (55%) of full-time financial aid applicants at community colleges have an expected family contribution of zero: in other words, their income is so low that the U.S. Department of Education estimates they cannot afford to put any money towards paying for college" (TICAS, 2016 Links to an external site.).

California Community Colleges

With more than 2.1 million students on 114 campuses, the California Community Colleges (CCC) is the largest system of higher education in the United States. The CCC Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) has provided a number of key facts Links to an external site. about these 2.1 million students, including the following:

  • Over 67% are from diverse ethnic backgrounds
  • Over 62% attend part-time
  • Roughly 50% come from California's lowest-income families
  • Roughly 40% are first-generation
  • Over 40% are over 25 (already working adults)

Attributions:

Page adopted from " Who Are Our Students" "Zero Textbook Cost Pathways: OER & Equity" by Aloha Sargent is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.

Textbox: "Linking the Future of Dreamers to California’s Future Links to an external site." by Eloy Ortiz Oakley Links to an external site. is licensed under CC BY 4.0 Links to an external site.

Wood, J. L., Harris III, F., & White, K. (2015). Teaching men of color in the community college: A guidebook. San Diego, CA: Montezuma Publishing.

Image: ""People, human, person, business" Links to an external site. by LinkedIn Sales Navigator Links to an external site. is in the Public Domain, CC0 Links to an external site.

"With their Whole Lives Ahead of Them Links to an external site." by Jean Johnson, Jon Rochkind, Amber N. Ott, and Samantha DuPont, for Public Agenda, is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Links to an external site.

The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS). (2016, April). On the verge: Costs & tradeoffs facing community college students Links to an external site..

California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office. (2019, February 13). Success Center: Financial aid reform for California Community Colleges Links to an external site..