Jill Biden Brings Overdue Attention to Community Colleges
As parents, we start nagging our kids in elementary school: “You’ve got to go to college.” Middle-school counselors push college marketing brochures into their hands. High school is a weary whirl of college admissions tests and campus tours.
The message we send: You can’t succeed without a four-year university degree.
But that is not true. While born of the best intentions, the Big Lie of higher education is a disservice to American youth who need to know there is another path to success in the 21st-century economy. Nothing is one-size-fits-all. A singular focus on four-year institutions limits the horizons of millions of Americans.
The same is true for adults ages 18 to 80 and beyond. For many, the best path is community college, where a high school graduate can experiment with career paths; where a handy young adult can learn a high-demand, high-paying skilled trade like plumbing; where a small-business owner can polish her marketing chops; and where a retiree can rekindle his old intellectual and social interests.
After years of neglect, community colleges now have a champion in the White House: the first lady, Dr. Jill Biden, a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College. In 2015, I had the opportunity to attend an event with Dr. Biden and President Obama, who visited Michigan to unveil a $175M grant to boost apprenticeships. They stressed the importance of investing in community colleges and professional trades. At that time, the nation was still recovering from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Community colleges played a key role in educating and retraining displaced workers, many of whom spent decades with the same company and looked to their local community colleges to forge a new career path.
Today, the country is facing a global pandemic, rising unemployment, and a future of work that changes so quickly that constant training and retraining is the norm.
In this way, community colleges are local treasures. They lift up individuals with affordable opportunities to build skills necessary to work in today’s economy – from high-skilled trades to healthcare positions to law enforcement. They grow local economies with increased tax bases and related development. They add art, culture, and a buzzing social scene to local areas.
Yet despite this clear impact, community colleges are often overlooked as assets. To the detriment of the communities, people, and economies they serve, they receive far less investment support than four-year institutions.
This creates a massive and inexcusable revenue gap between four-year institutions and community colleges. According to the Center for American Progress, community colleges receive $8,800 less in education revenue per student enrolled than four-year institutions. That translates to a total gap of $78 billion between the two sectors.
Community colleges need our help. We must stop taking two-year colleges for granted.
There are many factors that contribute to the revenue gap. In Michigan, for example, community colleges are funded with property taxes and tuition, which enables schools to provide necessary services like classes and labs. But it’s far less than four-year institutions receive. So, community colleges have to get creative to provide services above and beyond that.
At Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan, we’ve been able to identify new revenue sources through community-building partnerships, but even that is not enough. That’s where local support can play a big role. Throughout my years working here, I’ve seen firsthand the great impact philanthropy has on our school and students. Typically, donor-dollars go further at community colleges. For example, a $500 scholarship may not be enough to fund one class credit at a university. At Schoolcraft, the same amount of money covers a three-credit class, plus books.
All of a sudden, what would be a minor donation at a four-year university becomes life-changing for individuals at a two-year college. For the single mom of three getting her degree. For the high school graduate not sure where they want to go in life. For the 60-year-old small business owner looking to get a new certification.
Community Colleges need more government support, but they also need to become a much higher priority for private philanthropists. If you want your donor-dollars to have a big impact, consider a donation to your local community college, where rather than having a traditional four-year college path forced upon them, people chose their best path.
