Why We Must Invest in Community College Completion

This is an exciting moment to be leading a community college and advocating for community college students.

As Congress moves toward enacting a significant investment in higher education, community colleges are front and center in the conversation. Increases to the Pell Grant and a federal grant program for college retention and completion initiatives have all been on the table. Each would benefit the millions of students enrolled in community colleges across the country—including the more than 50,000 students who attend Salt Lake Community College (SLCC), where I serve as president.

When I think about what these proposals could mean for our students, what stands out is the tremendous opportunity they offer to focus on college completion, which gets to the heart of what I believe is the most important financial investment we can make in our students. We know getting across the finish line is the key to unlocking the full benefits of higher education and finding success in the world of work. Earning an associate degree increases students’ lifetime earning potential by $400,000, and as one of the largest institutions in our state, Salt Lake Community College graduates help power Utah’s workforce.

More than half of our students at SLCC are first-generation college students. A third are students of color. A significant number come from low-income backgrounds, and many are student parents. We are proud to serve such a broad, diverse, and hard-working student body—and we want all our students not only to get to college but to get through college.

One of the most effective approaches we’ve seen for boosting student success and graduation rates has come from programs that provide comprehensive “wraparound” support services, like personalized advising, extensive tutoring, and financial assistance to help with transportation costs and reduce students’ work obligations outside of school. Such strategies are especially powerful in supporting underrepresented students in completing a degree that will benefit them and their families.

And while offering these robust student supports is costly, we know it works. Models like the City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (CUNY ASAP) that focus on creating these navigational pathways for students have empowered students to complete community college at a rate almost double that of their peers not enrolled in those programs.

That’s why I’m excited that the Build Back Better Act lays out a plan for a dedicated College Completion Fund to directly focus on student retention and graduation at SLCC and schools like ours across the country. The $500 million investment in college completion proposed by Congress represents an unprecedented allocation of federal resources to move the needle on student outcomes.

On the ground, additional funding for evidence-based student success initiatives would further elevate our commitment to provide strong, equity-driven wraparound services for SLCC students by expanding the practices we see working for our community every day.

More than one-third of all undergraduates attend our nation’s community colleges, which offer them the most accessible entry point to higher education and all the benefits a college degree promises. We owe it to them to prioritize their success—and to do that, we must invest in it. Federal legislators are finally acknowledging the urgency of this investment, and I encourage their continued focus on college completion.