(2009-07-21) Community College Funding

President Barack Obama made a historic announcement on July 14 - that he's seeking $12 billion over the next decade to beef up funding for these two-year institutions (Community College-s), which educate nearly half of U.S. undergrads... Finding the cash to pay for this proposal hinges on Obama's plan to save money by nixing subsidies to private lenders under the Family Federal Education Loan Program. That legislation faces opposition from Student Loan companies and some Republicans, who say the shift to direct lending - in which Uncle Sam acts as your loan officer - will cost thousands of jobs and keep colleges from choosing between competing loan programs eager to underbid one another.

As the Center for American Progress concluded in a February report, "America's future economic success may well depend on how we invest in two-year institutions."... The 1,200 community colleges in the U.S. are especially suited to helping students adapt to a changing labor market. While four-year universities have the financial resources to lure top professors and students, they are by nature slow-moving. Community colleges, on the other hand, are smaller and able to tack quickly in changing winds. They often partner with local businesses and can gin up continuing-education courses midsemester in response to industry needs, getting students in and out and ready to work - fast... To make that money, however, students like Nembhard need to get their degrees - and the statistics are disheartening. Only 31% of community-college students who set out to get a degree complete it within six years, whereas 58% of students at four-year schools graduate within that time frame. Hmm, is a "degree" the right goal? Are lower-level Certification system sufficient for Economic Development and UnEmployment improvement?