We need to make this affordable. Community College is the way to do it.
As homeschooling children approach college age, the question arises, “Will you go to college?” Homeschooling at college age would look something like living your life and educating yourself as you go along. However, I think many homeschooling families view college differently than elementary and secondary school. College may be a ticket to a career or fulfillment of a long-sought after goal.
As I expected, Ivy League colleges weren’t the long sought-after experiences most homeschoolers yearned for. Because they questioned the importance of traditional elementary and secondary schooling, they probably question college as well, especially as the financial investment in it is so great. A prominent outcome from my research was how much homeschooling families relied on Community Colleges (CC) for higher education. It was cheaper, easier to get into and often closer geographically. Montgomery Community College (MONTCO), Buck Community College (BCC), Philadelphia Community College (PCC), and one in New Jersey, Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) were all discussed.
What follows is Renee’s story from last year about PCC. Dede is her oldest child, Laura is next, followed by Zola. Recently all three girls have been attending CC.
Renee has four girls who have all been homeschooled through their entire elementary years. They were not unschoolers, but also did not follow a traditional curriculum. Their mother is a certified teacher but does not credit her homeschooling choice to that degree.
J: It’s interesting to me to see them all going from little or no direct instruction, to suddenly all three of them are doing CC. Do you think this was sort of your plan all along? Get them through elementary and some of high school and then do Community College?
R: Yes. CC was big. A big thing in my mind for a few years. In fact, when Dede decided to go to high school, I was just like, what are you doing? Why would you go to high school? Go directly to CC. I have heard from other homeschoolers; they are doing a year less at college. Two years less because of all the classes they took at CC. We have four children. We need to make this affordable. Community College is the way to do it.
J: Do you think they all want to go to college?
R: I would say probably. Like college is sort of seen as a means to be able to have good future careers.
R: Dede has nine CCP classes under her belt, because she did 3 this semester, 3 last semester and prior to that she did three. I don’t know if they all will transfer, but it’s all good.
J: And you didn’t have to pay for any of hers?
R: I did pay for the ones she did in the summer. But during the school year, the school paid for the majority. They paid for the classes, the books, and they paid for transportation as well.
J: So, Laura is doing CCP classes as well. Does she like them? Do you have to force her to go, or is she happy to go?
R: You know what, Laura, I didn’t have to force her. I’m not going to say that it’s just like she’s jumping up and down to get the class, but she’s not a complainer. She knows that through doing this now it’s going to ease the transition to full-time college later on.
J: I saw that she took remedial courses; others in my study have taken remedial courses. They set it up and plan for it because they know they may not have covered it enough in homeschooling, but they count on getting it at the CC. Did she basically feel prepared other than that kind of thing?
R: Yes. Like I said, we needed to do more math. The remedial was not at all a shock for math. I am a little perplexed about English because she audited the English 102 and the professor said she did a great job. She did everything the other students did. She wrote her 17-page paper and the professor at no point said that this was too high of a reach for her or anything like that. So, it’s a little perplexing. To your point about remedial classes, I feel like it’s not just homeschoolers. I think that a lot of students, at least in Philadelphia are doing a lot of remedial classes. It’s a big deal. It’s to the point that I couldn’t enroll Laura in her first semester in the fall in an English 101 with the remedial because there were no spaces.
J: I see Zola’s auditing them and again, how does she feel about this?
R: Zola is not as happy. She goes because I sort of insist on it. And the thing is, it just makes complete sense. Why should I not have my child audit a class which is for free which will save her a semester or two if we can do it. To me it’s a no-brainer. I would much rather she be auditing this class now than to be taking it again in the fall.
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