There is an affordability crisis in the American education system. Most Americans are priced out of college entirely,, at least without taking on dangerous levels of debt.
But that’s not the only thing keeping college out of reach.
“With our focus on affordability, we sometimes lose sight of the fact that there are other barriers to access related to income,” Diane Lasyone Elliott, of Western Governors University, recently wrote for Inside Higher Ed.
At Calbright, we agree. We’ve taken cost out of the equation by making our online community college free to all Californians. Our students tell us this is a significant advantage. But even more of our students, nine out of 10 in our most recent survey, say that it’s other aspects of the Calbright model, beyond the free online classes, that make it easier to access.
This is also the point of Elliott’s article. After taking a tour of 12 public universities in Europe, she found a whole set of best practices–beyond affordable tuition–to make college more accessible to everyone. Here’s are some of her recommendations:
- Make classes readily available and make registering for them simple and easy
- Focus on the needs of underserved students, understand the unique challenges they may face
- Focus on the needs of first generation college students and their unique challenges
- Offer mental health support
- Have family-friendly policies in place
- Offer support for students throughout their entire education journey, not just during the admissions process
- Help connect students to jobs during and after their education
The Leading Edge of the Learning Curve for Accessibility
Calbright not only meets all of those standards, we exceed them.
While Calbright is open to all Californians, every program and policy are specifically designed to meet the needs and support the lives of non-traditional students, particularly working adults with families and other competing life responsibilities. We remove barriers and red tape, finding ways to say yes to students, so that every interaction they have is simple and easy.
We offer continuous academic support, and have persistence rates significantly higher than other colleges working with similar populations. But we also offer support outside of the classroom with life issues and, yes, mental health. Our career services program is available to students at every step of their journey. Some students use it to find new, better jobs when they first enroll and then again after they’ve graduated.
That covers every recommendation and best practices of European universities that Lasyone found, but we go beyond it. Our Competency-Based Education model allows students to take classes on their own schedules and study at their own pace, putting them and their needs at the center of their education. It makes Calbright a college that fits their lives, rather than a college that requires their lives to fit around their education.
Bringing Accessibility Into Everything We Do
Put it all together, and Calbright is expanding best practices for higher education access:
- It’s a free online community college, so cost is no barrier to entry
- Calbright has an open admissions system: any Californian who is over 18 with a high school diploma or equivalent is accepted. It’s that easy
- Calbright reduces the logistical challenges that come with college – we find ways to say “yes” to students instead of making them adjust to our systems
- It has a flexibly-paced Competency-Based Education model that allows students to take classes at their convenience, whether that’s first thing in the morning, last thing at night, or during 15 minute breaks at work
- Calbright offers fast and career focused certificates in job skills that companies are actively looking for
- Calbright programs can be completed in less than a year
- It offers every student free counseling, coaching, and extensive academic support
- It offers accessibility services for those who have disabilities
- It offers focused support for specific populations like veterans
For thousands of students this makes getting an education, and finding a better job, all possible. That’s what accessibility means.
