Boost Community Colleges

Many people believe in the importance of higher education, especially in an increasingly global economy. Unfortunately, higher education is expensive. Not everyone can afford it.

Granted, there are more affordable alternatives, such as community colleges. However, not all students give community colleges a chance.

But for those who aren’t sure about community colleges, the new education program proposed by the administration may change the collective image of these institutions.

The administration’s Skills for America’s Future aims to improve industry partnerships with community colleges to ensure that students learn the skills they need to qualify for in-demand jobs. In this program, employers will have the chance to collaborate directly with a community college and create course programs that match the school’s curricula with the needs of the workplace. Hence, a student will be learning key skills that lead to a specific job, thereby increasing the chances of employment after graduation. Ideally, each state should have at least one strong partnership between a growing industry and a community college.

Promising signs

The concept of Skills for America’s Future isn’t new. In fact, statistics show that the most successful community colleges in the country are the ones that collaborated with the private sector. For instance, Cisco works with various community colleges to prepare the next generation of workers for jobs ranging from broadband to health IT. Skills for America’s Future aims to build on such successes to ensure that the next generation of workers will have the right skills set to enter the fastest growing industries around.