Budget Crisis: Will Community Colleges Be Declared Financial Emergencies?

While financial aid, scholarships, and student loans are the most common ways to finance higher education, new savings-matching programs are helping more students attend community college. Imagine each dollar you save matched by a free dollar that you can use towards your college tuition!

Savings matching programs help low and middle-income students pay for college by matching the money that participants put in a college savings account. For example, the state of Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development runs a savings matching program called New Visions, New Ventures, which will match $2 for every $1 that eligible low-income participants deposit in a savings account. The program will provide up to $4,000 in matching dollars to participants. Participants must use the money to pay tuition, buy a first house, or start a business.

How Savers Can Benefit Even More through Philanthropy Websites

Recently, savings matching programs have begun partnering with philanthropic websites to increase the savings power of their participants even further. One such pioneering website is SaveTogether.com. At SaveTogether, individual donors can read the stories of low and middle-income individuals who are participating in savings matching programs and working towards savings goals that involve post-secondary education.

Individual donors choose individual savers to “match,” and donations made by individuals through SaveTogether are tax deductible.

How the Program Works

By working with a variety of programs that sponsor savings-matching efforts for community college tuition, SaveTogether furthers the power of these programs.

Profiles on SaveTogether Allow

Although women were at one time excluded from many institutions of secondary education, in recent years, they have established themselves as a majority presence on two-year and four-year college campuses. According to a December 2009 Washington Post report, women make up 60% of higher education students nationwide, primarily because men are more likely to drop out of school, join the military, or go to prison.

However, the tide may be beginning to shift at community colleges, where male enrollment has been on the increase. Inside Higher Ed reports that for the first time in years, community colleges have experienced enrollment of male students either equal to or above their enrollment of female students.

A Spike in Male Students

Randolph Community College, in North Carolina, experienced an increase of 68% in first-time full-time male enrollment from Fall 2008 to Fall 2009, bringing the current male population at the community college up to 37%. Meanwhile, in Washington State, Lower Columbia College noted that full-time male student enrollment was 36% higher in Fall 2009 than it had been in Fall 2008.

This video offers ten tips on how to succeed in college.

Inside Higher Ed reports that Kent Phillipe, the director of research at the American Association of Community College, notes that the group’s recent studies show that the number of male students at community colleges has grown

A majority of California’s school districts, community colleges, and four-year universities are participating in CalPASS, a groundbreaking program that is improving their students’ academic success.

The CalPASS program makes student achievement data from kindergarten through college available to teachers of all levels. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that CalPASS “has collected 346 million student records on 25 million students, including information on demographics, student performance and test scores.” However, students’ test scores are not connected to any personal or identifying information. Instead, teachers, professors, and administrators at all levels of California’s public education system can view the data trends, using the information to determine their instructional decisions.

CalPASS, which stands for California Partnership for Achieving Student Success, is based in Grossmont Community College in San Diego. It was started in 1998, when Brad Phillips, then the director of research, planning, and academic services at Grossmont, realized that there was no existing channel through which he could ascertain how students from his two-year college were performing academically after they transferred to four-year colleges. Phillips decided that he needed to create such a system so that teachers and administrators could use the information to improve how students are taught.

From the CalPASS website: "Cal-PASS Plus, created through leadership and funding by California Community College Chancellor’s Office, is an accessible, actionable and collaborative pre-K through 16 system of student data.

Cal-PASS Plus’ mission is to provide actionable data to help

In today’s difficult job market, community college students looking to position themselves for career security and success have an exciting new set of options to consider: programs leading to associate’s degrees or certificates in sustainable energy technologies.

A Growing Industry

Just a few years ago, sustainable energy was more of a dream than a reality. Today, sustainable energy is emerging as an industry in its own right – one that demands trained, competent workers. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (President Obama’s economic stimulus package) provides money for “solar farms, wind turbines, electrical grid updates, mass transit, and the weatherizing and retrofitting of buildings,” according to Business Week. By the estimates of some environmental groups, this spending is expected to produce 1 million to 1.5 million new jobs.

Reporting on the then-emerging trend in 2008, the New York Times articulated that national starting salaries for sustainable energy workers range from $35,000 to $45,000 for graduates of two-year degree programs.

Fortunately for college students who are attracted to the growth potential and solid starting salaries in this industry, community colleges are beginning to offer more programs in two-year degrees or certificates for prospective sustainable energy industry workers.

This video reports on Renewable Energy Program at Hutchison Community College.

Sustainable Energy Degree and Certificate Programs

Across the country, community colleges are offering niche programs that can jumpstart your career in