PR 2006 Apr U1

April designated as community college month

Montgomery, Alabama - The State Board of Education passed a resolution on March 23 recognizing April as "Community College Month," to highlight the opportunities Alabama's two-year colleges provide and the critical role they play in workforce development.

There are more than 1,100 community colleges in the United States, and the majority of higher education students in the nation are educated in community colleges. Last year 316,090 people were served with academic and technical courses, workforce training and adult education in the Alabama College System. The majority of undergraduate students in public higher education in Alabama are enrolled in two-year colleges.

Community colleges serve a unique higher education mission - to provide affordable access to college to increase the educational opportunities of the population and to provide workforce training in partnership with business and industry to ensure a highly-skilled, competitive workforce.

President Truman's Commission on Higher Education brought the idea of community-centered, publicly-supported two-year colleges to a national level, when it became clear after World War II that veterans needed local opportunities to enter higher education and prepare for increasingly technical jobs.

During the month of April watch for events at local colleges and further press releases highlighting the roles of two-year colleges in Alabama:

  a.. Access to higher education in Alabama - affordability, schedule

flexibility, geography and developmental education

  a.. Workforce training geared to industry needs exemplified in the auto

industry, aviation and shipbuilding

  a.. Health education programs that produce the majority of nurses, first

responders and allied health professionals in Alabama

  a.. STARS-Alabama's articulation agreement that guarantees transfer of

two-year college courses to four-year institutions, one of the top

comprehensive articulation systems in the nation

  a.. Arts and culture - community colleges' role in bringing the arts to

rural communities

  a.. Distance learning and technology in two-year colleges

  a.. Bridging secondary and postsecondary education to prepare students for

the workforce

The text of the State Board of Education's resolution is available at

www.acs.cc.al.us. The mission of the Alabama College System is to provide

accessible quality educational opportunities, promote economic growth, and

enhance the quality of life for people in Alabama.

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