Two-Year Colleges Lack Resources To Prevent Unintended Pregnancies, Column Says

At Tuesday's White House Summit on Community Colleges, "[e]ncouraging more partnerships between colleges and businesses whatever that means was on the agenda, but not how you keep sexually active students in school long enough to show up [for] the first day of work with a diploma and without a baby," Laura Sessions Stepp -- a journalist, author and senior media fellow at the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy -- writes in a CNN opinion piece.

Before the summit, the White House asked the public to post ideas for community college reform on a website, where users could vote for their favorite proposals. According to Sessions Stepp, the most popular idea came from "former teen mom and community college student" Heather Thomas, who wrote, "Educate students on healthy relationships and family planning in order to help community college students finish their education and then plan for a family when the time is right." Despite the popularity of Thomas' suggestion, summit speakers did not respond, Sessions Stepp writes.

"As public officials talk about graduating an additional five million community college students, they neglect to champion one of the most significant things they could do: support efforts to reduce the number of unplanned pregnancies," Sessions Stepp continues. She notes that community college students are more likely than students at four-year schools to experience an unintended pregnancy. Almost two-thirds of women who give birth during community college do not graduate, she adds.

Moreover, unlike most four-year schools, more than half of two-year colleges do not have comprehensive health services on campus, such clinics or nurses to provide birth control and do physical exams, according to Sessions Stepp. She adds, "Only 28% of two-year schools make condoms available," and none provides emergency contraception. Financially supporting community colleges in their efforts to decrease the number of unplanned pregnancies "is the right -- and smart -- thing to do," she concludes (Sessions Stepp, CNN, 10/7).


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