President Obama has embraced an audacious ambition â?? to renew America’s status as the world leader in college attainment. That goal is daunting, and it leads many people to conclude that we should focus federal investments on four-year colleges. If we want to realize the president’s goal, that would be a terrible mistake.
Located in neighborhoods across the nation, charging lower-than-average tuition, public two-year colleges have the potential to lead the charge to significantly increase the number of Americans holding college degrees. But to succeed, they need a renewed government commitment to their support and leadership. The country has for too long put elite four-year colleges and universities on a pedestal, focusing the hopes and plans of students and families on them. But those institutions reach only a small portion of the populace, whereas community colleges touch much larger numbers of students as well as many other people in their towns and regions.