President Obama announced Tuesday his request for $12 billion in new money for the nation’s community colleges. I happen to be a big fan of community colleges, and I applaud the President’s support. Follow me below the jump.
As a high school junior and senior, I attended North Seattle Community College, taking classes from great professors, writing for the student newspaper (which led to my presence at the 1999 WTO riots) , tutoring students twice my age in a computer lab, and getting to know a hugely diverse population of students.
I still remember reading another high school student who participated in the Running Start program, quoted in the local alternative newspaper The Stranger, suggest that community college was "like high school with ashtrays."
Comedian Chris Rock offered his take:
You know why they call them community colleges? Because anyone in the community can go there...Here’s five dollars, let me get my learn on!
Writing about Obama’s announcement for Slate, Christopher Beam sums it up well:
Community colleges don’t get a lot of respect.
Occupying an interesting place on the landscape of American education, community colleges are not part of the normal progression, not part of the standard "plan" which has kids leaping from high school directly to a four-year university. But even here in Seattle, a third of students don’t graduate from high school, and even if they do, getting accepted at a university still requires a glistening report card, top test scores, and–for many–going massively into debt.
Maybe this is why a third to half of all American undergraduates currently attend community colleges. In a culture obsessed with success, a community college is the place where those who didn’t make the cut–or never got to try for it in the first place–can turn for another chance. It’s where kids who got accepted but couldn’t afford the tuition at a four year school go. It’s where immigrants and refugees go to learn English and get job skills. It’s where laid off factory workers go to get retrained in new professions and return to the workforce. The hallways of a community college probably constitute the most diverse neighborhood in your city.
When I attended North Seattle Community College during the waning days of the Clinton administration, economic times were still good. The school was struggling to find students. These days, the social safety net quality of community colleges becomes clearer as times turn for the worse and people flock to them for guidance, training, skills, and education. Several weeks ago I accompanied my younger sister back to North where she was registering for a nursing prerequisite Anatomy class. I noted a new career center, which, despite this being summer term, was packed.
As fate would have it, Tuesday found me taking a tour of Edmonds Community College north of Seattle as part of my potential Americorps assignment there. I was touring a new building on a mostly new campus that is home to some 10,000 students. Edmonds CC is flourishing: a new dormitory has been constructed, scheduled to open for fall term.
As I tour the campus, I’m reminded of my days at NSCC. The diversity of the students; all the ages, ethnicities, nationalities, hopes, and dreams.
I hope that as community colleges grow and receive greater and more consistent funding, they are able to keep their independent spirit, their adaptability, and their acceptance of a wide array of students.