A lot of community college students
juggle work and school. What can be
done to expand California’s financial
aid system to better meet their needs?
One surprising reality is that the way the
financial aid system works, the net cost
for a low-income independent student is
higher at community colleges than it is
at (California State University schools)
like Sacramento State or a (University of
California school) like UC Davis. Even
though our fees are low — and many of
our students don’t pay fees — we need to
do a better job reducing financial barri-
ers for community college students. One
effort is our Los Rios Promise Program,
which is raising private dollars to help
reduce some of those financial barriers,
but we absolutely need to do more at the
state level in making Cal Grants and other
forms of financial aid more available to
our students.
The Los Rios Promise is an umbrella
for our fundraising efforts to ... provide
scholarships for students so they can pay
for living expenses and books. Commu-
nity college students have relatively low
access to Cal Grant, so we are advocating
to expand Cal Grant. We’re hoping to find
a solution at the state level in the budget
but recognize that is a challenge, so we’re
really excited about the support we have
from local businesses. Wells Fargo, Safe
Credit Union (Sutter Health and VSP Glob-
al) have already made a commitment.
Community colleges can be expensive
because many students are slow to
complete their units for their associ-
ate degree or to transfer to a four-year
college. What can be done to ensure
students achieve these goals in a more
timely manner?
The major emphasis for us is improving
pathways for students — what are known
as guided pathways — at our four colleges,
and working very closely with our K-12
partners so it creates a seamless tran-
sition from high school to college, and
making it easier for students to identify
the courses they need to get a certificate
or degree. Every semester they spend has a
significant opportunity cost. Particularly
younger students want a way to get their
information online … and some students
need and benefit from a high-touch ap-
proach, so guided pathways is directing
students to the services that make sense
for them, whether it’s meeting with a
counselor or having a clear pathway on-
line that they can navigate. The role of
academic advising and counseling is very
important, but with more than 75,000 stu-
dents each semester, the reality is we have
to have a variety of ways for students to
get the information they need.
How do your enrollment numbers
compare to a decade ago?
When the recession hit in 2008, communi-
ty college enrollment exploded; students
come to us during tough economic times
for skill training. ... In a good economy
like right now, our enrollment has been
stable but not growing. … We know when
the (next) recession comes, the demand
for enrollment goes up and the resources
from the state go down, so it is not an easy
dynamic to manage. But in developing
guided pathways, when there’s greater
clarity about what courses are needed,
there are opportunities for us to plan for
the economic downturn to make the best
use of whatever resources we have.
(We have also) developed what are
known as associate degrees for trans-
fer, in collaboration with the California
State University system. A student who
completes an ADT can transfer directly
to Sacramento State or another CSU with
junior status in their program. The com-
pletion rate for transfer students with an
ADT has been very encouraging. Sacra-
mento State wants all the associate degree
for transfer (students) we can send them
because (they) finish in less time. About
75 percent of ADT students complete
their B.A. within two years of transfer,
an increase of almost 20 percent from the
traditional degrees, which is an astound-
ing success. And more of our students are
earning ADTs. … The number of total Los
Rios students who received an associate
degree for transfer has increased by 265
percent, from 501 students in 2013-14 to
1,828 students receiving an ADT in 2017-
18. The five top ADT majors in terms of
2017-18 awards were in business admin-
istration, psycholog y, administration
(We have also) developed what
are known as associate degrees
for transfer, in collaboration with
the California State University system.
A student who completes an ADT can
transfer directly to Sacramento State
or another CSU with junior status in
their program.
August 2019 | comstocksmag.com
29