Community College News

Community colleges have become popular for students of all ages to get the training they need to move into a rewarding and lucrative career. Despite concerns over budget cuts and diminishing completion rates, a new report by Community College Week shows that many schools nationwide are continuing to churn out large numbers of graduates. One secret to higher completion rates appears to be the inclusion of various healthcare degree programs in a school's course catalog. Although other industries are floundering in the sluggish economy, healthcare remains a strong option for those looking for a recession-proof career.

What the Numbers Show

The current report by Community College Week shows that over the past decade, the number of associate degrees offered by community colleges in the healthcare field grew by an astonishing 111 percent. In addition, certificates provided by community colleges in the healthcare industry grew by 240 percent during the same time frame. By the end of the 2009-2010 school year, community colleges nationwide awarded more than 177,000 healthcare degrees alone.

The study conducted by Community College Week used data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Set (IPEDS). According to the Community College Week website, while the information was complete for each college listed, all eligible colleges are not included on the current list. However, most schools not listed were relatively small institutions that rarely impacted the study's results. According to the publication's website, Community

New construction may be at a standstill for the housing market throughout the West Coast, but that slowdown hasn’t impacted construction enhancements at many community colleges around California. From new student centers to “green” classrooms, the projects at higher education institutions are currently making up a large percentage of the total construction occurring around the state. And since colleges had already earmarked portions of their budget for the enhancements, many schools are saving money, thanks to the lower cost of supplies and property over the past few years. We’ll look at how some California community colleges are gearing up for bigger, better campuses in the not-so-distant future.

50 Projects, $1.6 Billion

According to a recent report at Sign on San Diego, more than 50 construction projects are underway at community colleges and universities across California. The total projected cost for the combined effort is around $1.6 billion, a massive boon to a slumping construction industry where only a few housing projects are still up and running. In addition to the current projects, much more is waiting to begin, ensuring the state's construction industry will continue to find work and revenue for some years.

Boone Hellmann, University of California, San Diego vice chancellor for facilities, design, and construction, told Sign on San Diego, “I think it’s extraordinarily fortunate to have an influx of work in both the community college and university sectors. Over the past two years, I’ve had contractors tell me we’ve been a stalwart

Community colleges have historically offered a wide range of degree programs to help individuals get the training they need to move quickly into the career of their choice. To keep up with the recent surge in community college enrollment that has occurred during the current economic slowdown, many community colleges are ramping up all new degree programs to broaden their offerings even further. Some of the new programs are provided in partnership with local four-year universities, while others are geared toward up and coming industries where employment opportunities show great promise. We’ll take a look at a few of the colleges across the nation that are working to give students an eclectic selection of degree programs.

Ivy Tech Expanding Programs

Ivy Tech is one of the colleges planning to offer a wider choice in degree programs for the next academic year. According to a report in the Indiana Economic Digest, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education recently approved new certificate and degree programs for a number of the Ivy Tech campuses in the state. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning degree program will be expanding to include certification, as well as an associate’s degree. The associate degree program in dental hygiene will also enlarge to incorporate a technical certificate in dental assisting.

Ivy Tech will also be adding an associate of science program for those interested in entering the field of engineering. The pre-engineering degree will prepare students for entry-level work in their

The Skills for America's Future program was introduced by the current administration as a way to match up community college training with fields in need of qualified workers. The idea behind the initiative was to make community college graduates more competitive and marketable in the real world after school and provide industries with highly qualified workers. This month, President Obama announced that Skills for America's Future will expand further, ensuring more community college students get the training they need to find successful, lucrative jobs once their college training is complete.

What is the Skills for America's Future Program?

Last year, President Obama launched an ambitious initiative along with the Aspen Institute, designed to bring companies together with community colleges to produce future workers that would be highly qualified and able to compete in a global market. The movement was dubbed Skills for America's Future, and it began with partnerships between industries and academia that would coordinate the training and build the skills of a qualified workforce in the United States. According to the Aspen Institute website, the initiative would serve as a broad umbrella under which labor unions, corporations, and community colleges could coordinate their efforts to train a new generation of American workers.

From its inception, Skills for America's Future began signing on a number of key players to help the initiative achieve its goals. Some of the leaders that have worked with the Skills for America's Future program since the beginning include

President Obama announced an ambitious plan to graduate an additional 5 million community college students by 2020. To achieve this end, the President has raised awareness about the benefits of community colleges and issued grants and other funding to increase enrollment levels across the country. However, getting more students into college is only the first part of the battle.

Low Completion Rates a National Problem

Graduation rates for community colleges are currently dismal at best, with less than one-quarter who enroll in a college graduating from a degree or certificate program within three years, according to a report in the Houston Chronicle. That figure varies throughout the country, with some states seeing even lower graduation rates. For example, Texas faces a community college graduation rate of just 12 percent within three years, although that number goes up to 30 percent within six years. Still, if community colleges are to raise a workforce that can compete in the global economy, they must do much better than the status quo.

The worst numbers appear to come from low-income students, who enter community college to bring themselves to a higher earning level. However, most of these students never complete their degree or certificate program, which reduces their chances of a decent-paying job or transfer to a four-year institution. In a community college summit last fall, President Obama told the Christian Science Monitor, "In the coming years, jobs requiring at least an