SOCIAL WORK IN COMMUNYT COLLEGES

Social Work in Community Colleges

Katie Pratt
Ball State University

Question
Community colleges students face personal and systemic challenges, exacerbated by their
socioeconomic status, resulting in poor community college completion rates. Could the
implementation of a social services center and employment of social workers increase student
retention and completion at community colleges?
Introduction
While the mission of community colleges can be complex to define, their open
enrollment policies indicate their purpose is to educate the community and aid individuals as
they work to better themselves and attain social mobility (Meier, 2013). The reasons for
attending community college may vary, but many students enroll in hopes of improving their
socioeconomic status (SES) through greater education and job opportunities (The Campaign for
College Opportunity [CCO], 2012). Despite the best intentions of community colleges to deliver
opportunities, many of these hopes are unrealized as community college completion and transfer

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rates remain very low. Between 65-80% of degree-seeking students do not earn a certificate,
complete a degree, or transfer to a 4-year institution within six years after enrolling at a
community college (CCO, 2012; Century Foundation, 2013; Goldrick-Rab, 2010).
Reasons behind poor community college retention and completion rates vary, but they are
often connected to systemic issues and socioeconomic stratification that result in under-resourced
students and community colleges. Systemic issues as such underfunded community colleges,
overworked faculty and staff, and limited awareness of resources contribute to the low retention
and completion rates amongst community college students (CCO, 2012; Century Foundation,
2013; Goldrick-Rab, 2010). In addition, students face challenges due to their backgrounds and
identities. Many community college students come from the lowest SES and identify as racial
and ethnic minorities, first-generation college students, immigrants, and single parents (Becker,
2010; Moore & Shulock, 2010).
The issues related to community college student retention and completion could be
addressed by the development of a social services center at a community college that is staffed
by a social worker. If community colleges were to employ a profession that already serves to
alleviate the social problems they face, then community colleges may be better able to help
students complete their educational goals.
Systemic Issues
Funding for community colleges has become increasingly problematic, as community
colleges are often vulnerable to the fluctuations in the economy and state budgets (Goldrick-Rab,
2010). As state and federal funding is moving towards a performance based structure which, due
to systemic issues, favors institutions that serve more advantaged students (Century Foundation,
2013). Tuition has been increasing, putting financial strain on students. Budget cuts for
community colleges has resulted in overcrowded courses, limited access to services, and poor

SOCIAL WORK IN COMMUNYT COLLEGES

retention efforts (CCO, 2012). Students are not getting the institutional resources needed to be
academically successful due to poor funding.
As a result of the decreased funding to community colleges, many community college
faculty are overworked and underpaid. Community colleges rely on part-time faculty to meet
their instructor needs, and these faculty members receive little pay, few benefits, and often have
to work additional jobs (Monks, 2009). These part-time faculty members have little incentive to
work towards their professional development, and there are few faculty members specialized in
vocational training (Goldrick-Rab, 2010). Community college faculty are not able to meet the
needs of their students because of limited resources.
In addition to overworked faculty, community colleges have overworked staff. Many
community colleges do not have enough academic advisors to meet the needs of the students
(Goldrick-Rab, 2010). When students are able to meet with academic advisors, they often receive
inaccurate information and poor advice, resulting in delays in a students progress towards
degree completion (Becker, 2010; CCO, 2012). The poor funding for faculty and staff has
created inefficiencies and low completions rates at community colleges (Century Foundation,
2013). In order for students to be successful, they need faculty and staff that are able to properly
support them and help them navigate their educational paths. But in order for faculty and staff to
be able to do that, they need extra support and help to take the pressure off of them as they work
within their roles.
There are many resources, both within the institution and the community, available to
students that could help them become more academically successful, but they are often unaware
of these resources. Community colleges often lack orientation programs and do not adequately
communicate information about resources to students (CCO, 2012). Students will often go to the
faculty and staff to obtain information about resources, but they sometimes receive inaccurate
information (Becker, 2010). According to Goldrick-Rab (2010), when community colleges do

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not actively and directly provide information about financial and social resources to students, the
students encounter obstacles that prevent them from finishing college. In addition, Becker (2010)
found that when students were informed of and utilized the resources available to them, they
were more successful in reaching their educational goal.
Community colleges are underfunded and provide inadequate support to their students
(Becker, 2010; CCO, 2012; Goldrick-Rab, 2010; Goldrick-Rab et al., 2015). This issue is
exacerbated by overworked faculty and staff who misinform their students. Community colleges
also fail to provide students the information they need to properly access the resources available
to them. All of these issues result in low degree completion rates, and all of these issues could be
resolved through the use of social workers on community college campuses who could provide
additional support to the students.
Challenges Facing Community College Students
Community college students face barriers related to their many identities, and community
colleges tend to serve underrepresented minorities who are often under-resourced and underprepared (Century Foundation, 2013). The racial and ethnic identities of students are likely to
influence their persistence and completion rates, and many community college students feel that
they are at a disadvantage because of these identities (Becker, 2010; Moore & Shulock, 2010).
Many students are first-generation college students who have documented challenges of their
own (Becker, 2010; CCO, 2012; Goldrick-Rab, 2010). These students typically do not have a
role model or guide to help them navigate the cultural nuances of higher education, and they are
more likely to temporarily or permanently end their enrollment. Immigrants are also a significant
population at community colleges and face challenges such as limited financial aid and the need
to complete non-credit English as a Second Language courses prior to fully enrolling (Becker,
2010; CCO, 2012). Additionally, about 15% of community college students are single parents,
and many struggle to financially support their families while completing their education (CCO,

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2012; Goldrick-Rab, 2010). All of these identities are correlated with low persistence and
completion rates in higher education.
Community college students also face tremendous financial barriers in their educational
progress. Approximately 26% of community college students are in the lowest income quartile
(Levin, Montero-Hernandez, Cerven, & Shaker, 2011). Oftentimes, community college students
are admitted into four-year institutions but cannot enroll due to an inability to pay tuition (CCO,
2012; Century Foundation, 2013). Many students work multiple jobs while attending school, and
often struggle to maintain their grades because they are working too much (Becker, 2010; CCO,
2012). The students need to work nearly full-time to pay for their education and living expenses,
and would be more academically successful if they could take classes part-time, but then they
would risk losing financial aid for their tuition (Goldrick-Rab, 2010). Nearly one out of four
students will stop taking classes within nine months of enrolling for a variety of reasons,
typically related to family issues, financial challenges, and work obligations (Becker, 2010;
CCO, 2012; Goldrick-Rab, 2010). Students will organize their class schedules around their work
schedules and will choose to not take the classes they need because their work schedules conflict
(Becker, 2010; Century Foundation, 2013). Clearly, the financial aspect of community college
enrollment is significant.
In addition to challenges related to maintaining employment, many community college
students face homelessness and food insecurity (Goldrick-Rab, Broton, & Eisenberg, 2015).
Research has suggested that about half of community college students face at least some
uncertainty about whether or not they will be able to afford to eat in a given month. It was also
found that about half of community college students are facing some form of housing insecurity,
and about 13% had experienced homelessness. The challenges associated with food and housing
insecurity can often lead to mental health problems. These issues are all impacting students

SOCIAL WORK IN COMMUNYT COLLEGES

abilities to persist and complete their education, and few students are accessing the resources
available to them.
To cope with financial insecurity, some community college students are utilizing welfare
programs, but these programs come with their own challenges (Levin et al., 2010). Many welfare
programs are set up with the mindset that by simply being employed, individuals will be able to
obtain social mobility, but the work first mentality of welfare is a barrier to education. To stay
on welfare, students are legally required work full-time jobs, and only some states allow time
spent in the classroom count towards full-time work. Research has shown that the welfare and
community college systems, while greatly influential on each other and the students, do not work
well together and neither system understands the other. Levin et al. (2010) emphasized the need
for creating greater collaboration, communication, and organization between community colleges
and welfare in order to develop a system that actually fosters community college student success
and social mobility.
Maslows (1954) hierarchy of needs suggests that in order for a person to reach their
fullest potential and self-actualization, they must first have their physiological, safety,
love/belonging, and self-esteem needs met, in that order. Applied to the community college
setting, this means that to be successful in college, students must first have their most basic needs
met. With over half of community college students struggling with food insecurity,
homelessness, financial challenges, and family needs, it stands to reason that the students
struggle to reach a point of self-actualization and complete their higher education (Becker, 2010;
CCO, 2012; Goldrick-Rab, 2010; Goldrick-Rab et al., 2015). Community college students need
help accessing resources to meet their basic needs before they can reach their fullest potential
and be academically successful.
Social Work

SOCIAL WORK IN COMMUNYT COLLEGES

The social work profession exists to help individuals, families, and groups restore or
enhance their capacity for social function and work to create societal conditions that support
communities in need (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2016, para. 6). Social
workers are, by definition, helpers. Their role in society is to assist people who are struggling to
meet their basic needs. Social workers are trained to perform the roles of brokers, advocates,
mediators, educators, social actionists, and clinicians (Schatz, Jenkins, & Sheafor, 1990). When
social workers recognize needs, they use their knowledge of the community and resources to
respond to those needs. Social workers are case workers, counselors, and community leaders that
address problems on individual, familial, organizational, and community levels. The roles and
functions of social workers are also applicable to education.
Social workers in schools are oriented toward helping students make satisfactory school
adjustments and coordinating the efforts of the school, the family, and the community to help
achieve this goal (Barker, 1999, p. 426). While this function of social work is most often
applied to the K-12 system, social workers can use these same skills to benefits students in
higher education (Gibelman, 2004; National Association of Social Workers Center for Workforce
Studies & Social Work Practice [NASW], 2011). There are 38 standards of social workers in
schools, and all 38 can be easily applied to community colleges. These standards include using
multicultural competence to assist students and their families in learning, encouraging students to
use their strengths in creating their own learning plan, empowering students and their families to
access community resources, and identifying ways in which schools can better serve students
needs. Perhaps the most poignant standard is number nine, which states, As leaders and
members of interdisciplinary teams and coalitions, school social workers shall work
collaboratively to mobilize the resources of local education agencies and communities to meet
the needs of students and families (Gibelman, 2004, p. 166).

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By employing social workers in community colleges, institutions could provide better

support to their students. A social worker at a community college could help a student navigate
state and federal resources, such as welfare, which would meet the students basic needs like
food, shelter, and community support (NASW, 2016). Social workers would be able to provide
students with resources that not only meet their needs, but also their familys needs (Gibelman,
2004). They could help immigrant students navigate the path to citizenship. Social workers could
use their multicultural competence to assist first generation college students in understanding the
nuances of higher education. In addition, having a social worker at community colleges would
take the pressure to provide resources off faculty and staff, and would decrease the amount of
misinformation that students receive. Social workers could also assess the needs of students,
create programs that address those needs, and advocate improvements for the institution on
behalf of the students (NASW, 2011). Social workers are trained to address many of the
problems that students and their families face, and by using them in the community college
setting to meet the needs of students and move them along the hierarchy of needs, retention,
graduation, and transfer rates at community colleges could be improved (Gibelman, 2004;
NASW, 2011).
Models for Implementation
Research yielded little information regarding social workers in community colleges.
According to Gibelman (2004), higher education institutions tend to under-utilize social workers
and when they do, it is typically in a more psychosocial function within the institution counseling
center. Although there is a lack of social workers serving in higher education institutions, there
are models of student support services that are similar to how social workers could function if
they were to be employed at community colleges. These student support services work
collaboratively with institutional, local, and federal resources to meet the needs of their students.

SOCIAL WORK IN COMMUNYT COLLEGES

One potential model for social workers in community colleges was developed by Single
Stop (2014). Single Stop organizes service centers at community colleges that break the cycle of
poverty by leveraging existing financial resources with opportunities for education, counseling,
training, and support (para. 2). These service centers are one-stop-shops that meet with
students as individuals, determine their needs, and connect students to resources that address
their needs. The resources provided by Single Stop have been shown to increase community
college retention and completion rates and lead to increased employment for students after
graduation.
Another model that could guide the implementation of social workers in community
colleges is the Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) Resource and Referral
Services Center (Minneapolis Community and Technical College [MCTC], 2016). The Resource
and Referral Services Center works with students who face food and housing insecurity, medical
problems, mental health issues, or financial challenges. The center connects students to
community and government agencies, healthcare providers and other partner organizations to
address their immediate and/or long term needs and goals. Students will gain enhanced
knowledge of navigating the systems on and off campus, expanding their network of support.
(para. 2). The center is a great example of how community colleges can provide resources and
work collaboratively with local and federal services in order to meet the physical and mental
needs of students. By meeting these needs, students are able to work towards the completion of
their education. Both Single Stop and the Resources and Referral Services Center at MCTC are
models for how social workers could be utilized at community colleges.
Summary
While many community college students enroll with the goal of obtaining social mobility,
community college students are struggling to complete their education (CCO, 2012; Century

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10

Foundation, 2013; Goldrick-Rab, 2010; Meier, 2013). Community college students have many
identities that are risk factors for dropping out of college, including being racial and ethnic
minorities, first generation college students, immigrants, and single parents (Becker, 2010;
Moore & Shulock, 2010). These students are most often in the lowest SES, and face many
financial barriers that prevent them from completing their degrees, including a welfare system
that is not set up to support educational pursuits (Goldrick-Rab et al., 2015; Levin et al., 2011).
In addition, systemic barriers such as reduced funding to community colleges, overworked
faculty, and misinformation provided to students create challenges that are nearly impossible for
students to overcome (Becker, 2010; CCO, 2012; Goldrick-Rab, 2010).
The challenges facing students could be reduced through the employment of social
workers at community colleges. Social workers are trained in many roles that allow them to
serve people and help them navigate resources (NASW 2016; Schatz, 1990). Although the use of
social workers in higher education is rare, many of the functions of social workers in K-12
schools could be applied to community colleges (Gibelman, 2004). Models for the ways in which
social workers can help community college students can be found in the services provided by
Single Stop and the MCTC Resources and Referral Services Center (MCTC, 2016; Single Stop,
2014). By employing social workers in community colleges, students can gain access to
resources and services that meet their needs and help them obtain the education and social
mobility they seek.

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