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The Voice of Skyline College, San Bruno, Calif. Volume XLII - Issue 6
April 19, 2018
Middle-class students look to community college as their first option
www.theskylineview.com
Memorandum paves a new path for transfer applicants By Cristina Macz
TSV Staff Writer
Students walk around the Skyline College quad on April 18, 2018.
By Nataly Gutierrrez TSV Staff Writer
Community colleges have become a more common choice for education among middle-class students in the United States. Students may not want to attend UC or CSU institutions after high school as they may be indecisive in regards to what they want to major in while many look to community college for its affordability. Many students find their path toward what they want to study in the future while attending a community college. Research conducted by the Community College Research Center states that “among students who completed a degree at a four-year college in 2015-2016, 49 percent had enrolled at a two-year college in the previous 10 years.” Additionally, the research shows that almost 50 percent of those with a four-year degree have gone to a community college throughout their educational path. Skyline student Ledy Prado, explains why she thinks it’s important that both of herself and her children continue their education at Skyline as a part of the middle
Maria Isabel Del Castillo Schmidhuber/The Skyline View
class. “When my family and I arrived in the U.S the best option for me and my kids was to go to a community college,” Prado said. “Our economic situation was not solid either, so going to a UC is very expensive, so going to a community college was the best option for me and my children.” This is a very common thing among families who end up going to community college first, yet the cost has allowed low income as well as middle-class families to gain access to affordable education. More of Skyline’s middle-class students express their experiences attending Skyline and why they think a community college is a good option for students. Luis Jibaja, Ledy Prado’s son, who is a computer science major, and is in his seventh semester attending Skyline shares his input about community college being a good option. “Community college is the perfect starting point, it’s affordable and it gives you the opportunity to explore multiple fields,” Jibaja said. “For that reason, it’s perfect for people who are undecided about their major. Because people can try multiple classes of different majors like for example, engineer-
ing or arts and end up finding out what their passion is.” San Jose State University graduate student Mayra Lopez, who graduated Skyline years ago and now is a Math tutor at Skyline College, shares her thoughts on the benefits of community college. “To me, Skyline was so helpful,” Lopez said. “It was the greatest thing that happened to me back then and I think community colleges are great for any students in so many ways. Community college prepares you for life and reality, thanks to Skyline it helped me transfer to San Francisco State University.”
economic spectrum. Skyline psychology major Michelle Chee was supposed to go to San Francisco State University directly after high school but then decided not do. “I don’t regret going to community college first because it gave [me] the opportunity to find myself and to find my voice,” Chee said. “It really gave me the chance to explore the classes that I wanted to.” Chee also went into detail that community college helped her realize what pace she is in when it comes to college.
“I don’t regret going to community college first because it gave the opportunity to find myself and to find my voice.” -Michelle Chee
A lot of students apply to a California State University or University of California when they’re in high school but then last minute end up attending a community college because of how indecisive they are about what they want to major in. A wrong decision would affect anyone massively in an
“Me knowing how much I can handle in my course load I couldn’t take as many classes,” Chee said. “For me, it’s taking longer to transfer but I don’t regret it because I know the pace I have to go in order to succeed in my classes.”
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Qualifying California community college students will now have a chance of guaranteed transfer admission into a select few University of California campuses. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which was announced on April 11, 2018, will guarantee admissions to students who follow the UC pathway and meet the GPA requirements, beginning in the fall of 2019. California community college students already have the option of signing a Transfer Admission Guaranteed agreement, otherwise known as a TAG agreement. The TAG agreement is offered for six different UC campuses, excluding UCLA, UCSD, and UC Berkeley; this will stay intact. The MOU is not the same as the TAG agreement though there is not much information available about the MOU agreement. However, the Transfer Center in Building 2 is aware of the new agreement and is preparing for any information they receive. “We have no details with the new agreement. It’s a waiting game to see what the UCs rollout,” Lucy Jovel, a Skyline College Counselor/Transfer Center Coordinator said. “Until we have more information on the new agreement we can’t plan, but we can prepare and stay on top of it.” The University of California website shows that for the fall 2017 semester, 164 Skyline College students enrolled in the UC system; however, this data does not represent the number of applicants or admitted students. Jovel stated, that based on the information that the Transfer Center tracks currently 33 percent of students have signed TAG agreements. In an attempt to increase the accessibility of UCs for community college students, the MOU has outlined a series of steps and efforts for students to reach their goal of higher education.
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