Community colleges have a long history of serving the needs of their communities. One critical way they do this is by retraining workers whose skills no longer match what local employers need. Case in point: Through the On Ramp program, the Virginia Community College System is providing funding to state community colleges to retrain dislocated […]

Clean energy is a growing power source in this country. A U.S. Department of Energy report estimates that wind power alone could produce 20 percent of the country’s electricity by 2030; it accounted for 1.8 percent of electricity in 2009. And installation of solar photovoltaics is booming this year, according to Renewable Energy World. This means […]

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) wants more minority and low-income students to study bioscience and move into biomedical research careers. Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD) and three other Detroit-area colleges and universities are helping NIH meet that goal. Starting in the summer of 2015, students who start a biomedical degree program at one […]

Community colleges are committed to improving career opportunities for students. But that doesn’t mean they have to do this work on their own. As has become increasingly clear, some of the best job-training programs are formed through a shared responsibility with industry partners. That’s the hope at Austin Community College (ACC) in Texas, where administrators […]

White Mountains Community College (WMCC), in Berlin, N.H., faces a challenge common to many rural community colleges: It has a large service area — in this case, more than 3,000 square miles — and is located hours from the nearest metropolitan city. Given its remote location, the college has had to think creatively about how […]

For the past 10 years, jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) have grown at a rate three times faster than non-STEM jobs throughout the United States. As community college leaders, one of the most important steps that we can take to help our students connect with jobs after graduation, is to provide them […]

Economists and job experts have been harping for years about the need for America to again become a maker nation, driven by its once proud manufacturing base. Perhaps nowhere is that need on greater display than in the hollowed out buildings and factories of Detroit. Once the cradle of America’s industrial strength, the city has […]

In an unprecedented large-scale collaboration, 30 State University of New York (SUNY) community colleges have joined forces with employers to create education and training programs to help students land high-demand jobs. Fueled by a $14.6 million federal grant, part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training program, Johanna Duncan-Poitier, SUNY’s senior vice […]