President Barack Obama continued his push for more college graduates in Warren, Mich., yesterday by touting an initiative to infuse $12 billion into community colleges over the next 10 years.
The cash infusion from Obama's initiative will create competitive grants that schools and states can use to improve education. The grants would allow them to build career pathways, add more classes and match up high school, community college and four-year higher education requirements, among other things.
By 2020, Obama said that the United States needs to win back its place as the country with the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. In order to reach that goal, he called for 5 million more students to earn certificates and associate degrees or move on to a four-year university.
As of January 2008, 6.5 million students were earning credits at 1,195 community, technical and junior colleges, according to the American Association of Community Colleges' analysis of the latest Education Department data. Of all U.S. undergraduates, 44 percent attend community colleges.
"In the coming years, jobs requiring at least an associate degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience," Obama said. "We will not fill those jobs –– or keep those jobs on our shores –– without the training offered by community colleges."
Occupations that require an associate degree or a postsecondary vocational award will increase by about 16 percent between 2006 and 2016, according to data published in a new report from the president's Council of Economic Advisors. Most of these jobs require analytical and interactive skills, which workers typically learn in postsecondary education.
To help community colleges bring their facilities up to speed, Obama plans to give them $2.5 billion in federal funds to spark $10 billion in construction and renovation investments. He also said that experts will create online educational software that the defense, education and labor departments will make available to community colleges at no cost to the students. The program comes with a price tag of $500 million.
As far as increasing college graduation, improving workforce training and closing achievement gaps go, efforts to address these issues will cost $9 billion over a two-year period.
The plan earned a stamp of approval from the Association for Career and Technical Education, a not-for-profit group.
“It’s refreshing to see President Obama acknowledge and emphasize the critical role that two-year colleges and training programs play with respect to building a pipeline of qualified workers,” said ACTE Executive Director Jan Bray. “It’s the first time in recent years that an American president has recognized the value of these institutions, and we hope that it includes technical colleges, career technical centers and all institutions that deliver postsecondary education and technical training.”
While these proposals are exciting, the American Association of Community Colleges cautioned that they mark the start of "extended legislative jostling." The plan, dubbed the American Graduation Initiative, is one of a number of measures that the administration has taken to improve college access.
