WMCC Stands Poised to Take Action
Katharine Eneguess, President of White Mountains Community CollegeWe are faced with many challenges as the modern world constantly changes. Where are we going to get clean, renewable energy from? How are we going to sustain the American Way of Life in the face of globalization? How are we going to keep our air and water clean? Where are we going to get the next generation of workers, the young and not-so-young professionals who will bring a fresh outlook to the challenges we face, who will come up with innovative solutions to these challenges?
One of the answers to the last question is the nation's community colleges, which today educate almost half of the nation's undergraduates. There are almost 1,200 accredited two-year community colleges which combined award more than 800,000 associate degrees and certificates annually.
Last winter the College Board's Center for Innovative Thought released a study analyzing the role of community colleges in today's workers and their effect on economic growth. The study was done by the National Commission on Community Colleges. "Winning the Skills Race and Strengthening America's Middle Class: An Action Agenda for Community Colleges" calls for a national commitment to these two-year institutions.
The College Board's study calls community colleges "the Ellis Island of American higher education, the crossroads at which K-12 education meets colleges and universities, and the institutions that give many students the tools to navigate the modern world." It calls for federal education policy to recognize the new reality, that 14 years of education is the minimum amount of public education that students need in order to adequately prepare for the marketplace of today and tomorrow.
According to the study, a community college graduate with an associate degree can expect to make average annual earnings of $37,990. High school dropouts, it says, can expect to make $19,915. Education is key in narrowing the gap between America's economic classes, but it can only be done with an investment in those institutions that have open doors to all those who seek that education.
"Winning the Skills Race and Strengthening America's Middle Class: An Action Agenda for Community Colleges" says that the United States should increase by 25 percent the number of associate degrees awarded, particularly in the high-demand fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
At White Mountains Community College we have a long history of preparing students with the skills and education necessary for them to succeed once they leave our campus. Admission to the college is open to anyone whose personal qualifications and academic record are such that we feel confident they will benefit from one of our programs of study. We offer associate degrees in everything from accounting, automotive technology, environmental science, mobile equipment technology to nursing and surveying technology and more. Our certificate programs encompass a likewise range of programs, from entrepreneurship, early childhood education, to phlebotomy and water quality technology. We also work with local businesses to customize workforce training to meet their specific needs.
We face many daunting challenges in the years ahead, but we are optimistic, at White Mountains Community College, that we are prepared to address these challenges, and that our students, and our graduates, will continue to be a contributing force in meeting these challenges.
Back to News List9/18/2008
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