Nearly half of all undergraduates in the US attend community colleges. These 2-year institutions, which have long been seen as higher education’s poor cousin, play several critical roles: They train much of the labor force, including more than 65% of the nation’s health care workers; they provide remedial help for students who want to go on to 4-year colleges and universities; and their no-frills, low cost approach means they provide the opportunity for many of America’s newest citizens.
While community colleges normally accept anyone who wants to go, budget cuts over the past few years have made it difficult for them to fulfill the demand. In 2004, California and Florida community colleges turned away an estimated 210,000 would-be students because they had neither the space nor the money to expand.
(Originally aired June 22, 2005)
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