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U.S. community college students unprepared

NEW YORK, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Despite having graduated from high school, hundreds of thousands of students attending the 1,200 U.S. community colleges are unprepared for college work.

The New York Times Saturday reported that the nation's community colleges are flooded with aspiring students who require remedial courses despite having obtained a high school diploma and yet are admitted to two and four-year programs they are ill-equipped to deal with.

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"You can get into school," said Stanford Professor Michael W. Kirst of the phenomenon. "That's not a problem. But you can't succeed."

With data from the Pew Charitable Trusts revealing that 75 percent of all community college graduates struggle with literacy in relation to tasks such as comparing newspaper editorial comments, many officials have suggested that changes are required in both U.S. high school and community college curriculums.

The newspaper said suggestions ranged from engaging students to help them believe in their own ideas to imposing a K-16 form of education which would encompass kindergarten through college, and ideally help students become better prepared for college and life.

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