On Tuesday, October 5th, President Obama and Dr. Jill Biden kicked off the first ever White House Community College Summit. Obama previously announced that he wants to make community colleges a top educational priority, as part of his effort to encourage more Americans to complete their college degrees.

Dr. Jill Biden is the chair of the event, which emphasized how lower cost colleges can develop America’s workforce and strengthen the economy. “These are places where young people can continue their education without taking on a lot of debt,” the President said. “These are places were people can gain new skills to move up in their careers. These are places where anyone with a desire to learn and to grow can take a chance on a brighter future for themselves whether that’s a single mom or a returning soldier, or an aspiring entrepreneur.”

Read the rest of this entry »

According to CNN, over the past few years, community colleges have seen a 24 percent jump in enrollment. But with the recent recession, colleges have no choice but to cut back on certain courses. This, in turn, is putting limits on enrollment.

“Unfortunately, because of the burden the recession has placed on state and local budgets, community colleges have been forced to cap enrollments and scrap courses, and even in the best of times, they receive far less funding than four-year colleges and universities,” President Obama told his Economic Recovery Advisory Board at a meeting on Monday.

With America’s unemployed workers seeking higher education at community colleges, this issue became the main topic at a White House summit, which took place on Tuesday. The meeting was hosted by Dr. Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Biden, and a community college professor. Biden and other participants at the meeting discussed the positive affect that community colleges have in contributing to America’s workforce. Read the rest of this entry »