April is Community College Month—a fitting moment to celebrate the fact that community colleges are sitting in the sweetest of sweet spots these days! While higher education is navigating a period of significant change, creating a destabilizing environment for four-year colleges and universities, the community colleges, long the sad orphan child from the wrong side of the ivory tower, are coming into their own.
Our sector long ago transcended what is now recognized as a need to merge the world of college with the world of work. Every community college is uniquely positioned to meet its community’s needs. While our university partners are slowly beginning to realize the importance of community, that sense of sympatico is the substance upon which we were built.
Within a growing awareness of the potential of AI to replace white-collar jobs, skilled trades and hands-on professions are recognized as becoming increasingly essential. As leading technology CEO Jensen Huang famously said, “The next millionaires will be electricians and plumbers.” Parents—and students of every age—are wondering what type of education will best prepare them for long-term success in today’s world. And that is the exact spot where community colleges step in.
To borrow a phrase from T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” community colleges have always been the “practical cats” of higher education! For decades, we have focused on meeting the practical needs of our students, our transfer and workforce partners, and those of society at large. We have built programs designed to prepare engineers and teachers, welders and construction workers, poets and dancers, along with every other trade or discipline that would prepare graduates to meet the needs of both communities and transfer partners. And with the July 1, 2026, launch of Workforce Pell Grants, our capacity to provide funding for these short-term workforce programs will increase exponentially.
While it has taken a decade to bring Workforce Pell into being, the approximately $40 million in federal funding per year for short-term workforce programs (eight to 15 weeks in length), will vastly increase access for students to gain solid credentials in fields of every type: artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, health care, transportation, the trades, etc. These programs are designed to meet immediate employer demand while offering students a fast, affordable pathway to careers.
The strength of America’s community colleges lies in both our adaptability and flexibility. We are as much defined by these qualities as we are linked to the regional needs of our communities. We are an independent breed that adapts well to suburban, inner city, or rural locations, and in turn, we all reflect our local community’s needs. No single educational pathway serves every student, just as no standard curriculum fits every community college. We embrace and serve them all.
As higher education continues to evolve, community colleges stand ready. Although the times are uncertain, they are also full of possibility. Let’s raise a glass to toast every one of the 1,000 community colleges across the country. For many of us, “community” is actually our first…or second…or our third name! No matter the placement, the singular power of that word “community” is the defining essence of our sector.
Happy Community College Month!