Engineers in America are too scarce and too white. That complaint comes from corporate chieftains and education leaders alike, who see those shortfalls as a virtual guarantee that jobs and innovation will head overseas. Now many are looking to remedies to both problems from an unsung source: community colleges. Thanks to low tuition, overall enrollment is rapidly growing at two-year colleges. It is going down, however, in colleges of engineering at four-year institutions. While just 12% of baccalaureate engineering degrees are awarded to African-American, Hispanic, or American Indian students, community-college students include large numbers from those groups who are potential engineering recruits. However, the road leading a two-year engineering student to be a full-fledged engineer has proven to be rough because it travels through four-year degree programs. Universities' requirements for transfer credits vary, sometimes in unpredictable ways, making admissions hard and forcing some students to repeat course work. A few states, such as Maryland and California, have launched broad efforts to smooth the transfer process. However, such efforts are rare, and money to pay for them is tight, which irritates their advocates.