Community Colleges: A Model for Latin America? (review)

Community Colleges: A Model for Latin America? is based on an international seminar titled "New Options for Higher Education in Latin America: Lessons from the Community College Experience," sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. This book is composed of three chapters, a bibliography, and four appendices. The first chapter is an adaptation from de Moura Castro, Bernasconi, and Verdisco (2001); the second chapter is taken from Daniel C. Levy (2000); and the appendices were prepared by David Ponitz (Guidelines for Building a Community College), Leonardo de la Garza, Karla Régnier (Community College Funding in Texas), Luiz Antonio Cruz Caruso (Vocational Training in Oklahoma), and Paulo Bastos Tigre (The Impact of SENAI Research and Development on Industry and Vocational Training).

The book reflects a striking and comprehensive endeavor to analyze and explore the following question: Is the community college a viable model for Latin America? This question implies a comparison between the U.S. community college experience and Latin American higher education. "Comparison" here does not refer to imitation but rather homes in on diverse models and their respective contexts, identifying and evaluating key elements which are important learning tools for the Latin America region. From this perspective, this book's approach to exploring ideas of the community college model is important for education in Latin America.

Chapter 1, "Community Colleges: A Model for Latin America?" is comprised of an introductory and varied journey through the community college's origin, history, and principal characteristics in the United States. Community college students are characterized by their diversity, age, and attendance (part-time students with full-time jobs). Several familiar themes are addressed. In contrast to the pride that many universities take in their selectivity, community colleges attempt to include "any student who stands to benefit from a college education" (p. 10) by using innovative teaching methods, technology, and distance learning and by focusing on the students' academic needs. Moreover, community colleges are powerful vehicles of social mobility, because they are an important way for any student with a high school diploma to achieve a higher level of education and to open up job opportunities.

With respect to finances, no two community colleges use the same model. The three main sources of revenue are tuition and fees, state appropriations, and local taxes. Finally, the chapter discusses accountability issues and concerns. The nature of community colleges' multilevel, circular, and interdependent system of governance creates consequent responsibilities to a diverse set of stakeholders (i.e., state and local governments, its board of trustees, accrediting boards, businesses, students, and the community).

The second chapter, "Diversifying Post-Secondary Education in Latin America: Limits and Possibilities," does not focus on the characteristics of community colleges, but rather turns its attention toward Latin American higher education, attempting to provide "an overall picture that highlights the urgent need to meet the growing demand for access to quality short-cycle post-secondary education throughout the region" (p. 44). It analyzes and compares the different and complex experiences of higher education in Venezuela, Chile, Brazil, and Mexico through the influence and development of two models: (a) French instituts universitaires de technologie and b) American community colleges. In his chapter, Daniel Levy traverses various higher educational territories, shedding light on their origins, characteristics, models, short careers, private sector roles, status and social stratifications, and credit transfer functions. The analysis of the community college pattern developed in Latin America shows that no single or common formula "has swept Latin America in terms of expanding post-secondary education" (p. 70). Even though U.S community colleges are a major source of inspiration in the region, each country is characterized by different solutions for their own national contexts.

Levy characterizes the current Latin American higher education context in terms of the internationalization process that has influenced the models developed in the region, especially from the United States (e...