Community Colleges Central in Rebuilding American Jobs

As the nation faces some the largest employment ratings in decades according to the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/ it has reached a high of 9.4%, the President has decided that community colleges will play a bigger role in training workers for jobs. His administration is proposing a $2.5 billion dollar overall on three key areas: building and technology, student success, and grants for online courses that could be offered free.


The article in USA today mentions that in general community colleges receive less funding and I know in ND this is true because as Bismarck State College as moved into the number 3 spot with enrollments our funding is not equal to other institutions on a dollar per dollar bases. Our college President has told us that ND largest university NDSU gets to keep 50 cents on the dollar what it takes in were BSC gets to take in 48 cents with the other profits (from tuition & other services) going into the general fund that the State Board of Higher Ed can use to disperse at their will. So basically, we bring in the students and another college could get the money.

According to George Boggs, president of the American Association of Community Colleges, "The financial strain that our colleges are experiencing cannot be overemphasized," http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-07-14-obama-community-colleges_N.htm

He goes to mentioned that with the current Obama proposal the funding will help the community colleges improve the learning experience, "position community colleges to help sustain the nation's long-term prosperity."

The fact is those community colleges educate nearly half of the undergraduates in the country according to TIME magazine in its July issue. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1909623,00.html

The piece brings into light that for all the good a community college can do the major down side is the graduation rate is low and the US has, "it has slipped to ninth in producing working-age "sub-bachelor's" degree holders, which is one reason Obama is working on a plan to help every American get at least one year of college or vocational training."

Where do I stand on this issue you ask? Since I work at a community college in a vocation trade area I am encourage that this administration is talking about 2-year colleges and that he sees them as place that can provide quality training and a solid education for the next generation. I could list numerous facts we have on our 2-year graduates that have salaries starting in the $40,000-$50,000 a year with benefits. But, one area that concerns me about this is the funding of his new 3-step proposal. If passed it would switch subsized student’s loans to loans through the Education Department and we all know how well the government runs its programs. Notice the sarcasm. I don't like the idea of the Feds controlling other aspect of our lives and can our federal budget handle an even larger defect at this time? I don't think so. I would like to see another plan to help students and community colleges before this moves forward. I think the President owes that much to the generation that might have to pay this plan off someday.