Food, housing and other forms of financial insecurity are a major reason behind students’ inability to complete community college.
A new report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement released during the 2017 Achieving the Dream conference today revealed that nearly half of community college students reported that a lack of finances could cause them to withdraw from their institutions.
“We can have all kinds of academic supports in place, but if we don’t come alongside them in this way also and help support them … it won’t matter how much else we do to prop them,” said Evelyn Waiwaiole, director of the center.
The annual CCCSE report surveyed nearly 100,000 community college students from 177 institutions and found nearly 4 in 10 receive federal Pell Grants. National data showed that nearly 61 percent of Pell recipients live below the poverty line. And of those who reported receiving Pell Grants, 40 percent say they rely on student loans, which may not be needed for tuition, to make ends meet.
Many of the students surveyed revealed they are living paycheck to paycheck, especially if they have dependent children.
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/02/21/financial-insecurity-could-keep-some-community-college-students-completing