Higher Ed Utah

The AP (4/5, Gorski) reports, “Politicians and policymakers are lavishing unprecedented attention on community colleges, promoting them as engines to train workers in the recession and boost the country’s college graduation rates. … Grappling with soaring enrollment and plummeting state support, community colleges are grateful for the higher profile but disappointed money has yet to materialize to help them keep up with demand, let alone meet ambitious Obama administration goals to make the US the global leader in college graduates again by 2020.” The AP continues, “No longer the afterthought of higher education, the nation’s 1,200 community, technical and junior colleges enroll more than 6 million students – almost half the nation’s college population.” But “the economic downturn has pressured both schools and their students, most of whom work long hours. Sinking tax revenues at state and local levels have forced public colleges to cut courses or schedule them around the clock, slash summer sessions, eliminate academic programs and even restrict enrollment.”