It is good to see a local institution of higher education is recognizing that some students may need help to be successful in college - and not just remedial classes. For far too long, colleges have been accepting students only to see a number of them drop out.
This past year, Bay de Noc Community College started a new course called First Year. Not only does this course give tips to students on how to survive college, but also offers psychological tools needed to succeed.
The purpose of this course is to increase retention and have students become active participants in the classroom. In the past, if students started to feel overwhelmed, they either dropped out or continued to get buried until they had no choice but to leave school.
This is a nice transition course for the traditional and non-traditional students. Far too often, not enough emphasis has been put on helping the students cope with college life. For some reason, it was thought that if you went to college, you were ready for the challenge.
In today's world though, there are many different types of people going to or returning to college after being out of school for a number of years. Loss of a job, feeling pressured to go to be successful, or just trying to better oneself are not key factors in the decision to go to college.
These strains alone can be quite a burden for an incoming student into the community college atmosphere. First Year is there to help smooth out that transition.
We are glad to see Bay College continue to be progressive and make sure their students are getting the most out of their learning experience. It is just another reason why sometimes a community college is a better start than going to a major campus.