community college

As the nation faces a tight labor market and industries scramble to find employees with the right skills to fill open positions, community colleges that are closely connected to a region’s economy play a key role in helping to fill that pipeline. However, the challenges facing students at community colleges often result in many not completing a degree or certificate. A report released this month by The Brookings Institution noted that less than 40 percent of community college students earn a certificate or degree within six years of enrollment. The report’s author, Elizabeth Mann Levesque, explored ways to address both structural and motivational barriers in completing community college. The barriers are real, said two community college administrators SSTI spoke with about the problem, yet the successes they see and innovative efforts some community colleges are taking to help their students are beginning to pay off.

NASA has indicated it is facing broad, workforce-related challenges that can have a negative impact on programs over the long run; over half of its workforce is more than 50 years old, for instance. One recent announcement from its Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) may be a small step to help address some of those challenges.  MUREP’s Innovations in Space Technology Curriculum (MISTC) program has awarded $1.4 million total to five minority-serving colleges to help develop their STEM courses that will contribute to the preparation, training and development of NASA's future workforce.

North Carolina and Tennessee are implementing new initiatives to get students in their states the help they need to either complete degrees or training that will help improve workforce development in those states. North Carolina’s governor recently added a new line of grants dubbed “Finish Line” grants, to help students that are struggling with non-academic problems complete community college. And Tennessee is rebranding its Tennessee Pathways program, employing regional coordinators to work in nine economic regions of the state to lead the alignment of local education institutions and employers.

Declining enrollments, higher costs and limited state funding continue to challenge higher education institutions, and possible mergers continue to surface as an option to meeting those challenges. In Pennsylvania, a new study sponsored by the Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee identifies options to help ensure the sustainability of the State System of Higher Education, and mergers factor into those considerations. However, in Connecticut a plan to merge the state’s 12 community colleges into one was rejected last month by its regional accrediting authority, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).

California’s efforts to grow the role of its community colleges (CCs) was reinforced with the governor’s recent budget request to establish a fully online public community college, while a report reviewing the state’s established pilot program to offer baccalaureate degrees at some CCs presented some serious questions.

This past summer Ohio joined a growing number of states that allow community colleges to offer four-year degrees when it enacted legislation allowing community colleges, state community colleges, and technical colleges to apply to offer applied bachelor’s degrees. If approved, the programs will join a growing number of applied baccalaureate degree programs being offered by community colleges across the country. The trend has met with resistance from some higher education institutions, while students and employers voice their support.

The nation’s largest system of higher education with over 2 million students is trying to connect community colleges to their regional economies through a three-year, $17-million-dollar investment to establish a statewide network of maker-focused colleges. The California Community College (CCC) Maker Initiative may provide a model for community colleges to infuse making, innovation, and entrepreneurship into students’ college experiences while helping them prepare for STEM/STEAM careers with the necessary skills for 21^st Century jobs.

Students at several California community colleges as well as California State University (CSU) campuses have access to a new incentive to graduate in four years through new state “promise” programs.  Gov. Jerry Brown Jr. signed SB 412 and AB 1741 creating “promise” programs that act in conjunction with a new 2025 Graduation Initiative, aiming to boost the number of students graduating from those institutions in four years to 40 percent. Success in the programs is intended to help address future workforce needs of California and improve achievement gaps.

The National Science Foundation (NSF), in partnership with the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), announced the winners of the Community College Innovation Challenge – a competition that challenged teams of community college students to propose innovative science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-based solutions to real-world problems. A team from Forsyth Technical Community College in North Carolina placed first in the challenge with its Energy Efficient Nanotech Solar Greenhouse idea. Minnesota’s Normandale Community College placed second with its proposals to install and implement hydrokinetic turbines in wastewater treatment plants to generate renewable energy. The top-ranked teams were decided after 10 finalists attended a four-day innovation boot camp. Other finalists proposed projects on innovative, research-based solutions to challenges at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems such as autonomous technology lake algae, junk-yard generators, water conservation technologies, and improvements to wind towers. Read the announcement…

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) released a federal funding opportunity (FFO) for the America’s Promise Job Driven Grant Program. Announced in May by Vice President Joe Biden, ETA will make up to 40 grants from approximately $100 million in available funding to provide individuals the opportunity to get high-quality, tuition-free education and training that leads to in-demand and industry-recognized credentials and degrees. The grants also will help support the development and growth of regional partnerships between workforce agencies, education, training providers and employers in a variety of industries such as information technology, healthcare, advanced manufacturing, financial services and educational services. Applications are due August 25. Read the FFO…