“College is making me the man that I always dreamed of becoming.” That’s one entry, from a student at Mesa College, in a yearbook style anthology of stories from community college students around the state. The Getting to Graduation project, organized by public interest group CALPIRG, documents the personal experiences of community college students struggling to pursue their dream of a college degree in the face of enormous challenges. CALPIRG aims to increase students’ utilization of financial aid so that they can work fewer hours and concentrate more on study, increasing student success at the state’s 110 community colleges.

While the enormous community college system enrolls nearly 3 million students, only 24% of community college students who intend to earn an associates’ degree or transfer to a four-year institution succeed in doing so within six years. “This statistic spells real trouble for our economic recovery” said Saffron Zomer, campus program director for public interest group CALPIRG, and author of a recent report on the issue. According to Zomer, California will need millions more college graduates to meet its needs for skilled workers than it is on track to produce.

Community college costs are much higher than many students realize, and to make ends meet, most students work. Too many work hours means not enough time for study. At the same time, available student aid is underutilized, leading to some students missing out on college aid they may be eligible for.  Many of the stories gathered by the group highlight the problem. One student from Santa Monica College writes “My day consists of waking up early, going to classes and then work and then home in time to study; hoping that I can piece together 5-6 hours of sleep.” Another from Fresno City College writes “I work at Taco Bell where I’m the general manager and it requires at least 45 hours a week. It’s common to get a call from work asking me to drop everything and be there. It’s almost impossible to go to school.”

CALPIRG student volunteers created a peer to peer outreach program last semester, and were able to reach over 6,000 students with information about financial aid through class announcements, information tables, and information sessions. They also conducted a survey and wrote a report, Working too Hard to Make the Grade, suggesting that many students have basic misunderstandings about financial aid, which discourage them from applying for it. But improving outreach materials and increasing application rates is only part of the solution: “We need to increase our investment in higher education and fund state financial aid programs adequately, so that students can afford to focus on academics,” Says Zomer. “Reading through some of these stories you can’t help but be impressed by the students’ determination to succeed, but for many of them the obstacles are ultimately too great. Why are we setting students up to fail? Let’s make it possible for them to succeed – we’ll all benefit.”

CALPIRG is a statewide, non-profit public interest organization, with chapters at eleven campuses in California: Visit www.calpirgstudents.org for more information about CALPIRG’s Getting to Graduation Campaign.