Community Colleges
Creating a central role for community colleges
To expand the key role of community colleges in connecting more students to college success, the College Board convened a group of leading educators, the National Commission on Community Colleges, to form a set of national recommendations and to strengthen the College Board's work with this increasingly critical sector.
More than 46 percent of those who attend college are enrolled in two-year institutions, an increase of 18 percent over the last decade. Especially for underrepresented and low-income students, community colleges provide first entry to the opportunities of post-secondary education. Yet they have not been at the center of national debates about the future of education. The Commission believes that if the United States is to achieve its goals, both in terms of quality and equality, community colleges must be a central component of the nation's educational agenda.
The Commission released its final report February 1, 2008. Implementing the Commission's recommendations will proceed throughout 2008.
Members of the National Commission on Community Colleges
- Augustine Gallego (Chair), chancellor emeritus, San Diego Community College District, CA
- Sharon Blackman, president, Brookhaven College, Dallas, TX
- Sunil Chand, president, College of Du Page, Glen Ellyn, IL
- Ding-Jo Currie, president, Coastline Community College, Fountain Valley, CA
- Christine Johnson, immediate past president, Community College of Denver, Denver, CO
- Martin Lancaster, president, North Carolina Community College System, Raleigh, NC
- Eduardo Marti, president, Queensboro Community College, Bayside, NY
- Paul Sechrist, president, Oklahoma City Community College, Oklahoma City, OK
- Robert G. Templin, Jr., president, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale, VA
- Ronald A. Williams, immediate past president, Prince George's Community College, Largo, MD
- John N. Yochelson, president, Building Engineering and Science Talent (BEST), San Diego, CA
Visit the National Office of Community College Initiatives online at http://www.collegeboard.com/communitycollege/prof/initiatives.html.