Community colleges- the focus of Obama’s administration

The first White House community college summit was held on Tuesday. The President was accompanied by Jill Biden, teacher of remedial courses at community colleges and wife of the Vice-President Joe Biden. In addition to the “Skills for America’s Future” program and the Gates Foundation’s $35 million “Completion by Design” program Obama announced the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.

These programs are being announced keeping in mind America’s growing requirement of jobs requiring an associate degree. Unable to keep up with the present requirement, these jobs are being outsourced offshore. Dr. Biden felt that the community colleges will play an enormous role ‘getting America back to work’. “Skills for America’s Future” program showcases the partnership between the employer and the colleges. The employers will assist the colleges in developing job based skills among the students. The future aim is to develop one such partnership between the community college and employers in each state. At present, United Technologies Corporation, Accenture, and The Gap, Inc have signed on for the partnership. Gap Inc. is the sole provider of the fund for the program.

The programs are focused on the students who are working or have families to complete their associate degrees. Several community colleges have devised free tuition programs for the people who have been laid off during the economic crisis. These colleges have seen people from middle management to drivers taking advantage of these programs. The funding programs announced by Obama will be a welcome relief for them. The rising costs of the four year college programs have shown an unprecedented rise in enrollment in the community colleges. The unclear programs offered and the complicated registration procedures were cited as other reasons for large number of dropouts from these colleges.