Obama's education plan could help SLCC

An infusion of $12 billion could be flowing into America's community colleges to produce 5 million more graduates by 2020, according to a White House education plan announced Tuesday.

A tall order, says Salt Lake Community College President Cynthia Bioteau, who leads a sprawling institution that last year handed out the fourth-highest number of associate degrees in the country. She said it's about time community colleges get the investment they need to succeed.

The move increases visibility for what Bioteau said is "the gateway to economic recovery."

"I've been saying all along that Salt Lake Community College is the widest gateway to economic recovery in the state of Utah," she said. She is hopeful support for President Barack Obama Obama's plan will be evident in the U.S. House and Senate. "Community colleges are far more adept at innovating and being flexible than any other place."

If Obama's plan is accepted, more than 2,000 community colleges in the United States will compete for the funding. The president has earmarked $2.5 billion for new construction and renovation projects, $500 million for online course development and $9 billion set aside for innovation in the form of challenge grants, for which any school with a plan is eligible.

SLCC has plans to apply for funding to advance a new scheduling system, allowing for year-round course offerings and weekend students to earn an associate degree in just 18 months. Bioteau said the school is also working on repackaging certain programs, such as construction management and automotive technology degrees.

"We need to teach what our community needs today and not what they needed 10 years ago," she said. New construction and automotive techniques have transformed both industries, requiring a work force with different skills.

Bioteau has her eye on at least some of that challenge fund's $9 billion, hoping to revamp the way higher education is delivered to Utahns.

Obama's plan, which according to a press release he called "the most significant down payment yet" on reaching his graduates goal, will urge community partnerships and fund innovative programs to help students complete a college education. It will provide leverage for facility upgrades and drastically increase online educational opportunities, making some available free of charge. He says the program will pay for itself by getting rid of subsidies to private banks for student loans.

"Instead of lining the pockets of special interests, it's time this money went toward the interest of higher education in America," Obama told a crowd at Macomb Community College in Warren, Mich., an area deeply affected by the loss of jobs in the automotive industry. The nation's leader noted that employment numbers may be slow to respond to current economic recovery efforts, not having hit a peak in unemployment just yet.

His "American Graduation Initiative," he said, will "reform and strengthen community colleges from coast to coast so that they get the resources students and schools need, and the results workers and businesses demand."

e-mail: wleonard@desnews.com