College Policies

Some community colleges struggling with slashed budgets can rejoice, with $500 million in grants issued to these educational institutions. The grants will be provided through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative and the U.S. Department of Labor to prepare qualified, skilled workers for various in-demand industries. The initiative is part of a larger goal by the White House to expand the role of community colleges in building a workforce in America that is prepared to handle the needs of a global economy.

The grants were announced by Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis, according to a press release on the United States Department of Labor website. A total of $500 million in grants will be issued to community college across the country that has demonstrated the ability to gear training programs to the needs of the area workforce. A total of 297 schools will receive grant funding, either individually or through consortiums. Schools can use the funding as needed to expand workforce programs through additional staff, resources, and learning materials.

This video offers an overview of the job training programs a community college offers.

Purpose of Job Training Grants

Solis explained in the Los Angeles Times that this funding would be used to restructure the priorities at community colleges across the country. In order to remain competitive in the new global workforce, American students must receive

It’s a fact: public funding for community colleges has been dwindling over the past several years, and so far, there is no indication it will ever come back. Despite the lack of money to pay for courses and services, the demand for a community college education is higher than ever. Covering the widening gap is easier said than done, but some community college leaders suggest that privatization is the way to go.

AACC Annual Meeting Explores Privatization Issue

The American Association of Community Colleges has discussed the dwindling funding issue for some time. However, Inside Higher Ed reports that the organization's recent annual meeting was the first time the privatization issue was raised in earnest. Some of the community college leaders attending the meeting took a stand on the issue, stating that while they wished the situation was different, it was time to move to the next step.

“My own college behaves much more like a private college these days than a public,” Stephen M. Curtis, president of the Community College of Philadelphia, was reported saying at Inside Higher Ed. Curtis used this statement to encourage other community college leaders to at least consider the idea of privatization. Supporting his stand was Rufus Glasper, chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges.

This video gives an overview of the American Association of Community Colleges.

“We have no choice. The state funds are gone forever,” Glasper told

President Obama has spent much of his time in office putting the focus on community colleges. The President has labeled these schools an integral part of preparing future generations for the global marketplace. Recently, President Obama has taken his pledge to boost community college effectiveness even further, by putting his money where his mouth is. This month, the President announced an $8 billion plan to help train two million workers into high-paying jobs, using community colleges as the training ground.

The Plan is Unveiled

According to a report in the Houston Chronicle, President Obama announced his new plan on the campus of Northern Virginia Community College. The $8 billion program, dubbed the Community College to Career Program, is designed to help community colleges and local businesses partner together to provide training in the industries that need highly skilled workers. Some of the industries that will be the focus of the program, according to USA Today, include health care, clean energy and information technology.

“An economy built to last demands that we keep doing everything we can to help students learn the skills the businesses are looking for,” President Obama was reported saying in the Houston Chronicle.

The plan has been applauded by many in the community college system and business community, but members of Congress have voiced serious concern over where the $8 billion will come from to fund the program.

How the Money would be Used

The $8

While the Massachusetts community college system and state lawmakers mostly agree on the primary function of community colleges, not everyone is on board with the governor’s new proposal for how to meet that function best. In Governor Deval Patrick’s recent State of the State address, Patrick proposed coordination of the state’s 15 community colleges under a single governing umbrella. The idea is to bring consistency to the system for the sake of better preparing the up-and-coming Massachusetts workforce. However, others see it as a way for the government to gain more control over the higher education system in the state.

What Patrick Proposed

In his address, Patrick emphasized the important role community colleges play in helping Massachusetts residents land jobs in fields that are looking for more workers. However, he asserted that the community colleges in his state could be going much further in helping match those looking for work with the industries looking for trained employees.

“There are 240,000 people still looking for work in Massachusetts and nearly 120,000 job openings,” Patrick is reported saying at the Newbury Port News. “Why? How can we have so much opportunity available and so many people still looking for their chance? Business leaders tell me over and over again that it is because the people looking for jobs don’t have the skills required.”

In response to this dilemma, Patrick has proposed statewide coordination of the 15 community colleges currently educating students in Massachusetts. According to Boston.com,

Arizona lawmakers are continuing their fight to allow students and faculty to carry guns on college campuses across the state. One state legislator has plans to introduce a new gun law in the opening session on January 9, ensuring the bill would not get lost in the rest of the business of the state as the year progresses. Despite the veto of a similar bill by Governor Jan Brewer last year, those in support of allowing guns on campuses feel confident that this year’s bill will get the governor’s blessings.

Why Guns on Campus?

The issue of allowing guns on university and community college campuses has been a hot-button topic since the shooting at Virginia Tech University in 2007 left 33 dead, including students, faculty members, and the shooter. According to AZ Central, Arizona lawmakers began introducing gun bills that following year, stating trained gun owners would provide another layer of protection for colleges throughout the state. The recent Arizona shootings in 2011 by former Pima Community College student Jared Loughner, who wounded and killed dozens of people at a shopping mall, including US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, have further fueled the fire of these gun movements.

Currently, Arizona law allows individual schools to make the decision of whether to allow guns on their campuses, although none of the colleges in the state allow weapons on campus at this time.

“A gun-free zone really becomes self-defense-free zones,” Arizona State Senator Ron Gould told My