As the U.S. economy slowly rebounds, the nation's community colleges are focused on putting Americans back to work. Across the country, training programs in emerging career fields, including nuclear, wind, and clean coal production, vie for the attention of job seekers in search of a more secure financial future. But these shiny new careers aren't…

As people live longer, healthier lives and the new health care law extends benefits to millions more Americans, the need for nurses, technicians, and others to staff the nation's hospitals and medical facilities presents an enormous opportunity for workers displaced by the faltering economy. This article features Virtual Career Network that helps…

Those following recent employment trends have heard about the nursing shortage. A combination of increased demand and impending retirements means 1 million nurses will be needed in hospitals, homes, and medical facilities by 2018. That's good news for job seekers. But it is not just shortages in nursing. Allied health careers, including…

Rural community colleges are employing several fundraising strategies to offset the pain of increasingly anemic budgets in the face of higher student enrollments. Whether it's educating stakeholders about the potential impact of campus improvements or reaching out to donors for financial support, it's critical to tout the economic and educational…

Enrollments are up across the board--a good sign for any college, particularly one that's only recently opened its doors--but enthusiasm is tempered by the reality of an impending budget crisis. Like most colleges, the situation is compounded by political pressure to increase the nation's graduation rate. Not that graduating students hasn't always…

With Arizona's mining industry in decline and its construction and housing market racked by economic upheaval, workers in rural regions across the state are enrolling in community colleges at a record clip. At Central Arizona College (CAC), administrators have reported 16 percent to 20 percent growth each semester for three years running. Georgia…

President Obama wants it. Billionaire business mogul turned philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, say it's key to the nation's economic future. But are America's colleges really poised to regain the world lead in college graduates by 2020? Doing so would require adding an additional 5 million graduates during the next decade--a lofty…

As states slash funding for education and other services in the face of shrinking budgets, the question is not how to find students, but how to help them once enrolled. Linda Hagedorn, director of the Research Institute for Studies in Higher Education at Iowa State University, states that instead of being concerned about where community colleges…

Looking to put some of its community members--many of whom have seen their jobs evaporate amid a troubled economy--back to work, administrators at Berkshire Community College (BCC) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, have committed as much as $200,000 in grant money to establish a new job corps that will give low-income or displaced workers free…

"Everybody will tell you that the financial situation is in dire straits--from the federal government to the states, down to the school and higher education levels," says Jack Quinn, president of Erie Community College (ECC) in Buffalo, New York. It is a harsh reality that further exemplifies the need for community colleges to establish effective…

This article reports that across the United States, rural communities rely on local community colleges to provide a steady pipeline of emergency responders, well-educated qualified nurses, and allied health professionals capable of staffing local medical centers and hospitals and complementing physicians in the delivery of care, from emergency…

When Martin Lancaster took over as president of the North Carolina Community College System more than a decade ago, the state, not unlike much of the nation, stood at the precipice of a massive economic shift. As traditional manufacturing and farming jobs--from tobacco to furniture to textiles--began to disappear, demand for a new breed of worker…

As technology becomes more pervasive on community college campuses, administrators are leveraging emerging solutions to cultivate highly interactive learning environments, using next-generation tools to target instruction and furiously digitizing arcane administrative functions. Despite the potential to revolutionize the community college campus,…

As a growing number of high school age students turn to community college campuses for a jumpstart on their collegiate lives, aging baby boomers are heading back to school for training--or perhaps even second or third careers. The composition of the American student body is changing: At one end is youth and unbridled enthusiasm and, at the other,…

This article talks about a joint effort between the National Science Foundation and the nation's community colleges that helps students secure jobs in technical career fields. It describes Advanced Technological Education Program (ATE), National Science Foundation's (NSF's) premier initiative with two-year colleges that was created in response to…