State audit slams California's online community college

[Dashinka 24,601]

And we are worried about tax cheats.  When government wastes taxpayer money, what is wrong with everyone trying to keep as much of their money as possible.

 

State audit slams California's online community college

 

SACRAMENTO — A California lawmaker is calling for the state’s new fully online community college to be shut down after an audit found that just 12 of its 900-plus students graduated in its first year and more than 40% dropped out, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

 

“The Legislature must end the Calbright College experiment,” Medina said in a statement.

 

Medina and Assemblyman Evan Low, D-San Jose, are carrying a bill that would eliminate the school at the end of the 2022-23 academic year.

 

Calbright opened in 2019, paid its executives more than any other California community college and is expected to receive more than $175 million in taxpayer funds through 2025, the Chronicle said.

 

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/state-audit-slams-californias-online-community-college/?sba=AAS

 

[yuna628 9,680]

This article made me really mad, because the findings are stuff my husband complains about all the time and that's not an online-only college. The executives and higher-ups are paid ridiculous wages, while everyone else from teaching to facilities to IT even HR are paid squat. Management has no idea what's going on and cause endless amounts of misery and disruption to students and staff. But ultimately the article doesn't examine what the problem was in so many students dropping out.

 

Because of the pandemic my husband was given the task of transforming an entire hands on college with little programs for online, to a temporary virtual system campus-wide. It was a nightmare to begin with because so many students and staff were either low income or had poor internet access. Others were entirely resistant to technology and didn't want to explore creative ways of teaching. Some tech was hard to obtain and it was rocky in the beginning. Systems and programs had to be written in a short timeframe, and there was no money or support for the staff on the low end of the pole. Meanwhile the higher-ups were clueless and would make outlandish demands having no idea about the subject. 

 

For a college to be fully online it needs an excellent plan commanded by good staff and the funds needed for the crazy scenarios that come up. It must also address the technical needs of the students and staff which may be poor and tech-adverse. It needs to avoid bloated upper-management figureheads that draw enormous sums and only have platitudes to offer. And it needs good relationships with the business community so that they can offer programs for in-demand fields and internships. It's a shame that this school did a disservice to it's students, online can be very valuable if done correctly.

[TBoneTX 45,543]

57 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

This article made me really mad, because [...]

This post merits enshrinement in the pantheon of All-Time Greatest VJ Posts, si Y ma'am.

[laylalex 7,293]

A lot more info here: https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2021/05/calbright-community-college-audi/ (CalMatters is an excellent source for all things California in terms of policy -- they don't have a political slant at all.)

 

I think there is room for this sort of experiment in this state. There are so many underserved parts of the state, particularly up north in the rural counties, where online technical education would be a real game changer. 

 

Even with the Assembly completely against further funding of Calbright, it probably won't die. We have a crazy surplus at the moment (over $75 billion) despite widespread gloating amongst some people that California was going to go belly up by shutting down as it did during the pandemic. And since the governor is pro-Calbright, it's not going anywhere.

[Dashinka 24,601]

8 minutes ago, laylalex said:

A lot more info here: https://calmatters.org/education/higher-education/2021/05/calbright-community-college-audi/ (CalMatters is an excellent source for all things California in terms of policy -- they don't have a political slant at all.)

 

I think there is room for this sort of experiment in this state. There are so many underserved parts of the state, particularly up north in the rural counties, where online technical education would be a real game changer. 

 

Even with the Assembly completely against further funding of Calbright, it probably won't die. We have a crazy surplus at the moment (over $75 billion) despite widespread gloating amongst some people that California was going to go belly up by shutting down as it did during the pandemic. And since the governor is pro-Calbright, it's not going anywhere.

How much of that surplus is from federal handouts?  My main issue here is why this failed college is paying so much more for its managers as compared to other CCs in the state?  Also, graduating 12 students doesn't seem like a real good return for the investment.

[yuna628 9,680]

There's only four (currently three) courses they offer. They don't offer any sort of degree programs either, and the courses they've got should be offering something that's valid and useful. It's frankly sad that the students not only wasted their time on this college, when they likely had far better and more successful options elsewhere. No wonder they dropped out. But the problems the auditor found - overpaid higherups with no education experience, no plan to spend money, hiring political insiders with some sort of kickbacks.. are all issues that many types of colleges have. The rest though... sound so shady I'd be likely to think this was a scam. UofM has an excellent online program, and yes like any other college you need to pay for it. But we shouldn't expect that free = a joke. Especially when it comes to education. Especially when the idea was to give the poor a way to have the same kind of education the wealthy have access to.

[TBoneTX 45,543]

Doo they hav onlin speling curses four NB

Iff so sine him upp urjintlee at enny cost