In this article, the author explores the steep budget cuts in recent years, and how this has affected the number of honors students that can be served at community colleges in the United States. This was true in Spokane, Washington, where, prior to working with "American Honors," community colleges had struggled for many years to provide substantial honors offerings. Due to the public-private partnership, Community Colleges of Spokane have been able to dedicate additional staff time and the resources of "American Honors" to plan and recruit for the honors program. After a pilot program in 2012-13, the current academic year saw increasing honors students enrolled at Spokane's two community colleges. Giving community college students an honors option, even when it is beyond the scope of current budget and staffing, is crucial in today's higher education marketplace. In Spokane, the leadership believes that a public-private honors program is one of the choices they like to offer to their students.