Digital Commons Network^™

Community Colleges Meeting Students’ Basic Needs, Annamaria Cavaleri, Gabi Cuna, Kaia Palm-Leis, Robyn Suchy

The Vermont Connection

https://sites.google.com/view/dsp-community-college/home

Of the students currently enrolled in post-secondary education institutions, more than 50% of college students are attending community colleges. Of these students, 36% are nontraditional students who are between the ages of 22 and 39, 29% first-generation students, and 20% are disabled students. Community colleges and their students are transforming what it means to participate in higher education by providing resources for students with diverse identities, overcoming exclusionary practices that sacrifice students’ physical, mental, and financial wellbeing. As part of a digital storytelling project, we aimed to think critically about injustice in higher education by focusing on a special …

Connecting Rural Students To Higher Education, Joel Ontiveros

The Vermont Connection

Rural students in the United States have a difficult time envisioning themselves at a college or university. K-12 education and culture in rural communities play a pivotal role in developing rural students’ perceptions of higher education. Additionally, guidance from college counselors, parents, and admission officers’ impacts rural students’ confidence in college attainment. These students are less likely to pursue college due to distance from higher education institutions and feeling a lack of connection. If rural students are eventually recruited, admitted, and enrolled into higher education, they must navigate obstacles in academic and student life differently from their peers. In this …