College Lifeskills Courses Increase Chances of Student Success
Often, students with low academic skills find themselves overwhelmed by the academic expectations when enrolling in community college. Without the ability to cope with the demands expected of them, many of these students end up dropping out before completing their degree. Student success is often greatly enhanced by student lifeskills classes that teach what it takes to succeed in college, such as time management and study skills, but many community colleges fear that making such classes mandatory will stretch their already over-burdened budgets to the breaking point.
New help is at hand for these students, thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Mercedes White of Deseret News reported that Foundation is behind an initiative to help these students get up to speed academically and increase their chances of college success. According to White, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has invested $750,000 to help these struggling students.
. . . [T]hrough an initiative called Next Generation Learning Challenges [the Gates Foundation will] open two free open-university programs for use at U.S. colleges and universities, One program is meant to help students with math so they do better on placement tests or move more quickly through remedial courses. The other program is to teach study skills and other things they’ll need to know to be ready for college.
Classes Modeled After Courses Offered by Great Britain’s Open University
Classes would be modeled on the free online classes offered by Great Britain’s Open University. Online classes would be offered to help prepare ill-equipped students for the reality of college life. Since many community college students have either been out of school for sometime before returning, or have graduated high school with only average-t0-below-average grades, having this help available to them at the outset of their college careers will be a huge asset to them.
White cited a recommendation from the California Community Colleges Success Task Force in the value of these types of college lifeskills classes:
The task force believes “student life skills courses may contribute to positive outcomes by helping students early in the college experience to develop clearer goals for education and careers, better ideas of what it takes to succeed in college, and some practical skills useful for achievement,” reported Louis Freedberg and Monique Smith of EdSource.
Their theory is confirmed by a considerable body of research. Students who complete study and life skills courses were more likely to earn a community college credential, transfer to the state university system, or still be enrolled in college after five years, according to a 2006 study conducted by the Florida Department of Education. A later study showed a “positive relationship between taking a student life skills course and various student success indicators — credential completion, persistence, and transfer.”