MORE GUIDANCE, BETTER RESULTS?

nontraditional students will succeed in school. Whether the services are orientation services forstudents who have been out of school for a while, financial aid advising for financially independentstudents, time management training for students who are working full time while attendingschool, or child-care subsidies for parents, the special needs of nontraditional students may beaddressed by enhanced student services.Finally, community college students frequently come from low-income backgroundsand have parents who did not attend college. More than one-fourth of students who attendedcommunity college during the 2003-2004 school year were from families whose income was ator below 125 percent of the 2002 federal poverty threshold. 19 For these low-income students,enhanced services geared toward financial assistance may be critical to their likelihood topersist. Meanwhile, nearly half of all beginning postsecondary students at public two-yearinstitutions had parents whose highest education level was a high school diploma or less in1995-1996. 20 For these students, whose parents are unable to provide experienced guidanceabout life in college, orientation sessions and information on navigating life on campus may beparticularly valuable.Community college students come from a diverse set of backgrounds. Although there isno such thing as a “typical” community college student, the types of students represented oncommunity college campuses often must overcome significant challenges and obstacles in orderto complete their studies. Enhanced student services are designed, in part, to address some ofthose challenges.Quantifying the Shortage of ServicesIn order to understand the enhancement of student services, it is important to considerthe current state of student services. Enhancements could be conceived of as “more” services,“better” services, or both. Described here is some information on the current state of studentservices provided at community colleges — an amount that many perceive as a shortage,suggesting that one starting point for an intervention is simply to provide more services.Academic advising and counseling is arguably the most important student service andan area where most community college students receive minimal help. Extraordinarily highstudent-to-counselor ratios are the most dramatic sign of the shortage of student services. Onestudy shows that the average student-to-counselor ratio in U.S. community colleges is almost1,000 to 1, 21 while a report examining the diversity of the California community college systemfound that the median ratio of students to counselor ranged from 1,400 to 1 in 1994 to approx-19 Provasnik and Planty (2008).20 Horn, Berger, and Carroll (2005).21 Grubb (2001), 6.8