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Editorial:
In down economy, community colleges
get a helping hand
Community colleges have a lot to smile about these days.
President Barack Obama pledged $12 billion to the nation’s community colleges in late June. The plan calls for loan reductions for students and funding to services offered at community colleges.
This is very good news for the nation’s 1,195 community colleges and six million community college students.
In a new school year marked by fresh optimism and with eyes looking toward the future, The Advocate is proud that community colleges are getting some much needed respect and recognition.
Obama is telling us he does not believe in the age-old stereotypes associated with community colleges and community college students.
Instead, Obama is telling us that he has the utmost faith in us to build a better future, and that college graduates with an associates degree will be integral to helping rebuild the economy.
According to Obama at a speech made in Michigan at Macomb Community College, the American Graduation Initiative will help add an additional five million college graduates by 2020.
The best news is for community college students, however, and comes in the form of lower interest rates for student loans and loan forgiveness, as well as increases to Pell Grants and a new payment schedule for student loans that will reduce repayments by more than $100 per month and extend the period of repayment for a longer period of time.
The Advocate takes this as a sign of recognition for all the hard work the faculty and staff of all the nation’s community colleges put forth every year.
During his speech, Obama said that “jobs requiring at least an associate degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience,” and implied that our future success as a country will be based on higher education. We agree.
Call us “elitist,” but we look forward to a more literate future.
The Advocate reserves the right to not publish comments based on their appropriateness.