"Big-name" US Companies to Assist Colleges Train Employees

As the White House holds its first ever community college meeting on Tuesday, the Obama administration has urged a closer partnership between big-name companies like McDonald's and public colleges so that workers can be better matched with jobs. The new project known as "Skills for America's Future" has been welcomed by community college representatives.

However, it is still unclear whether this new initiative will help Obama achieve his education objectives. Community colleges face cash shortages and are full of redundant employees and students who would've attended four-year schools in better economic times.

Community colleges have worked in conjunction with local companies for years to recognize employment requirements and provide relevant training. But most of the efforts have either been local or geared towards pilot programs.

Tuesday's community college meeting is seen as a consolation reward for community colleges, as they are due to be given $10 billion for job training and measures to help more students complete their graduation.

President Obama wants to achieve the goal of 5 million more community college certificate holders and graduates by 2020, as part of a broader plan for the US to once again be the world leader in terms of number of college graduates.

On Monday, the White House called the "Skills for America's Future" initiative an industry-wide project to "dramatically improve" employee training partnerships with colleges that will mostly be paid for by the contributing employers.