"Open Enrollment" at the California Community College →

Lee Gardner for The Chronicle of Higher Education on the latest survey of the California Community Colleges system:

More than 472,000 of the 2.4 million students in the California Community Colleges system were put on waiting lists for classes this fall

While 472,000 students seems like a very large number of students on the waiting list (and it is in real numbers) it is still less then 20% of all community college students.

But what is more concerning:

[California Community College] open-enrollment system served 2.4 million students in 2011-2012, down from 2.89 million students in 2008-9

Over 400,000 students disappeared from the California community colleges during one of the worse economic recessions of the current college-going age when it would be expected that more students would be incentivized to stay in or go to college.

That is rationing, in an open-enrollment system, by any name.

Could not have said it better myself →

Shawn Blanc:

Here’s a metric that can help you determine if you’re on track for reaching your goals: are you spending your time, money, and attention differently than most people?

Are you leading or following in research or higher education? If you find yourself too often thinking about following others in the race, it is time to start thinking about where you want to be in 5, 10, or 20 years.