Citlaly Santos
Special to Mustang News
Computer engineering junior Gerardo Toledo is close to getting the college diploma he always wanted. He can feel it, even though it’s only his second quarter at Cal Poly.
Toledo is scheduled to graduate in one and a half years, but his path has been different from that of most students. Before coming to Cal Poly, he spent five years studying at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, working toward admittance to a university.
Toledo isn’t alone.
In 2013, 46 percent of undergraduates in the U.S. were enrolled in junior colleges, according to the American Association of Community Colleges.
Of the students who do transfer to four-year universities, 60 percent receive their bachelor’s degree within six years total, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Infographic by Taylor PhillipsCommunity college students bring different experiences to the table, and their success is often influenced by what they learned prior to transferring.
Cuesta College Transfer Center coordinator, Blake Reed, said being a transfer student has its benefits.
“Students that come to a community college have to work hard to make sure they get accepted into competitive universities,” Reed said. “Once they transfer, most of them continue to be good students.”
One of the reasons Toledo felt prepared for Cal Poly was because of Allan Hancock College. During his time there, Toledo developed skills that helped him adjust to the fast-paced university lifestyle.
“The concept of studying hard, being dedicated and time management,” Toledo said. “I think those are some of the skills that professors at Allan Hancock helped me develop, and that helped me prepare to make that transition to Cal Poly.”
The struggles
Not only did a community college help him academically, it also helped him be a more responsible adult.
After graduating high school in 2008, Toledo learned he didn’t have enough money for a four-year university. With his family unable to help him, he had to become financially independent.
“I wanted to use that time (at a community college) to be able to develop a strategy that would allow me to save money and allow me to be more independent so that none of the expenses would transfer or pass on to my family,” he said.
Like Toledo, other transfer students have had similar experiences.
Liberal studies senior Enedina Hernandez graduated in 2007 from Righetti High School. She initially didn’t think about going to a community college because she was accepted to Cal Poly, but her financial situation made her think otherwise.
“I chose Allan Hancock because it’s less expensive,” Hernandez said. “I don’t regret it. I feel high school doesn’t prepare you as well for a four-year university. If I would’ve gone straight to Cal Poly after high school, I would’ve probably dropped out.”
Dropping out isn’t a rare occurrence among college freshmen.
According to the latest information reported by the National Center for Education Statistics, 21 percent of people enrolled as first-time full-time students at a four-year university in 2011 did not return the following year. And only 56 percent of students who start as freshmen at a four-year university will graduate within six years.
The stereotypes
Regardless of the statistics and success stories, Toledo said there’s room for improvement.
“I feel like there are so many community colleges here in California, but not all of them have an optimal level of teaching. Maybe that’s why some people think negatively about them,” said Toledo.
Click on the hotspots to learn which community colleges send the most students to Cal Poly, and hear from transfer students.
Graphic by Taylor Phillips
A recent editorial called “The Community College/‘Real College’ Divide” focused on the stigmas about community colleges.
The article begins by describing an incident where a New York educator, who isn’t identified, is speaking to a group of parents and beginning high school freshmen.
“‘So that’s the minimum requirement. But here’s what you should take if you want to go to real college — you know, not community college,’” quoted Kristin O’Keefe, the article’s writer.
Reed, the counselor from Cuesta, understands where this negativity could come from, but he doesn’t agree.
“Maybe some students didn’t apply themselves in high school or they had distractions, but that doesn’t make them any less brilliant. We have amazing 4.0 (GPA) students that just tear it up academically,” said Reed.
But even a high GPA won’t guarantee acceptance to competitive universities. As colleges become more impacted, students at two-year community colleges are struggling to get into their schools of choice.
The acceptance
More than 7,000 new transfer applicants applied for Cal Poly in Fall 2014. Only 1,422 students were accepted, and Toledo was one of them.
“I was excited that I made it. I knew that I was going to transfer, but I wanted to be able to choose a good school that would match what I wanted to do,” said Toledo.
Trying to decide what he wanted to do was one of the reasons Toledo hadn’t transferred sooner. But now that he’s focused on computer engineering, he has a recommendation for incoming students.
“I’d give them the advice to read ahead (of time) materials related to what they want to study,” said Toledo.
It’s been a long journey for Toledo in many aspects. Every day he travels from Santa Maria to Cal Poly. While he’s still getting used to commuting and being on a quarter system, he can already see his work paying off.
“The classes are very challenging and difficult because they’re classes or subjects that I was never introduced to, but knowing that I’m almost to that point, almost to achieving my goals, I like that. I like that feeling,” Toledo said.
Learn more about the transfer student experience in the video below.
Video by Kelly Trom