The commenters tear his poor 'journalism' to shreds.

transferred from her community college to her university. Actually she attended three different community colleges (and two universities) before attending the one she is pursuing her four year degree from. Granted she was admitted into only one as a degree student (for tax purposes). She never intended to finish the degree because it would have involved taking courses that would not count towards her major. She would be considered a failed student even though she had a 4.0 community college GPA and started her freshman year in engineering as an academic junior (she just got Dean's list her first semester so her community college work was sufficiently preparatory).

One criteria I would consider is what percentage of the budget is marketing. It is hard to compete against the glizty ads that appear in prime time.

Clearly a successful outcome of her CC experience, but as you point out would be counted as a failure by the metrics used by the author.

Mark Halperin has an ebook out covering the forprofit college industry. It is shameful the ratio of money some of the chains spend on recruitment compared to the money spent on student learning (e.g. faculty, instructional resources.) Stealing America's Future: How For Profit Colleges Scam Taxpayers and Ruin Students' Lives Excellent read.

THAT is why their performance is so abysmal. Got that? Give tens of billions of government subsidies to education, it is abysmal. But give hundreds of billions of dollars of government subsidies to profit-rich oil companies and corn farmers and Wall Street hucksters, well...that's just good for everybody!

I think this Cato "scholar" could have used a good community college education. My wife started the first two years of her medical career at a community college, then transferred to Florida State, then got her Masters at UMASS Amherst. Much of it paid for by being a TA and doing some in-kind teaching on the side. This Cato guy is a privileged douche bag shill.

"Think tanks are like septic tanks - you get out what you put in them."

not

SMH. McCluskey's website:

Neal McCluskey, Associate Director, Center for Educational Freedom

The guy is a product of public education!

The essay was just shilling for the for-profits.

that says something to the effect of "Credits may not be transferable".

A friend found that out the hard way when she tired of paying through the nose at one of those for profits and tried to transfer to the local university. She was distraught that NONE of her credits transferred and she would have to start all over after two years.

Many community college students attend to take courses in order to continue to learn while working or as seniors or just because they are interested.

Whether a person "completes" a degree or an associates certificate at a community college measures absolutely nothing.

I am thinking of taking a dance course at a community college next year. A friend of mine teaches it, and I can get there on public transportation. I have no desire to complete a degree, and I don't need the government to pay my way since the tuition for one class is affordable.

I could, by the way, not afford to join a health club or some similar organization.

Community colleges are subsidized because they serve everyone in the community. For-profit schools do not.

Also, a lot of community college students do not perform well because they need remedial work. Some were disenchanted or had problems that prevented them from doing well in K-12 but really want to learn. Some are just trying to see whether they can improve their skills. A lot of community college students work while they take classes.

I am a big fan of community colleges.

the student got at least a B in the course. And in many states a B average at a CC gets the student into a state university. The writer is full of shit.

I knew a woman in the mid 90s who was a young single mother who had a 4.0 gpa at a CC in San Jose, who matriculated (with scholarships) to Stanford to complete her degree.

The writer, certainly has an agenda.

Interesting to me was how few of the commenters shared his agenda.