Ryan Smith Supports Community College Chancellor Eloy Oakley’s Student-Centered Funding Formula for Community Colleges

Ryan Smith, Executive Director of the Education Trust – West, wrote an op-ed piece in the San Francisco Chronicle supporting Community College Chancellor Eloy Oakley’s proposal for a student-centered funding formula for the community college system. The proposal aims to bring about greater equity by shifting the funding approach from one based on enrollment numbers to a system that incentivizes community colleges to offer students supports to attain credentials and degrees Smith argues that too many students in the community college system flounder without getting the support they need. According to the op-ed, only 42 percent of Latino community college students and 37 percent of black community college students complete a certificate, degree, or transfer within six years. The proposed funding model is an attempt to reform the system to support the success of underserved students.