In a recent commentary in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the president of Community College of Philadelphia (CCP), Donald Generals, reacted to an assessment of the school. The assessment, funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts as part of its Philadelphia research initiative, concluded that “in recent years, it [CCP] has reached a lower share of the adult population, charged a higher tuition, and had a bigger share of students lacking any degree after six years than many comparable community colleges did.”
But in his commentary, Generals says that the results of the study should not be considered “as a reflection on the quality and importance of the college.” He then points out the recent 1.2 percentage point increase in the CCP 4-year completion rate as “good news,” and proceeds to say that in its 50 years of existence, CCP has graduated 55,000 of the 650,000 students who have come through its doors — but that is only 8 percent, a number that cries out for the examination provided by Pew. A quick look at the Department of Education’s recently implemented College Scorecard shows the school’s current graduation rate of 13 percent, only a modest improvement and still well below community college averages..
Understandably, Dr. Generals lists the positive aspects of CCP, particularly in relation to its outreach to minority students and the importance to the community of many of the students who have matriculated, if not graduated.
But the real world is outcomes driven. If the Pew assessment is not to be taken as “a reflection on the quality and importance of the college,” what then? Is it graduating one out of every ten students, at costs that are well above the peer group? Really, there is not much “good news” in this situation, and Dr. Generals would have more credibility if he said that the current situation is intolerable, threatens the future of the institution, and needs to be remedied immediately.