LAKE PLACID — Getting high-school graduates into college is critical to America's economic recovery.
Rick Dalton, president and CEO of Middlebury-based College For Every Student, spelled out the challenge ahead at a recent College Partnership Workshop, which brought high school, college and training program administrators together in Lake Placid.
"The United States is 11th worldwide in terms of numbers of students who graduate from college," Dalton said.
Indicators show the nation is slipping fast into 15th place.
LOW-INCOME 'TSUNAMI'
"In 10 years, half the kids in the county will live at or below the poverty line," Dalton said, citing widening gaps between student numbers and their test scores, graduation rates and college enrollment.
"That gap has increased every single year since 1980. We are looking at a tsunami of low-income kids. It's scary because our success at helping these kids get to school is abysmal, as a nation. Our success or lack of success on this issue will define our place in history."
Building connections between universities, community colleges and high schools gives students important access to funding options, preparation and social support.
And that is what a group of more than 30 educators spent two days in Lake Placid working on recently.
"It's everything," Dalton said of College For Every Student's alignment with economic growth.
"Our goal is to be the best in the country to get kids to college. We need to reach underserved kids and those kids that live at or below the poverty line."
ECONOMY AND EDUCATION
John E. Jablonski, president of Clinton Community College, opened the conference by outlining the American Graduation Initiative, launched in July by President Barack Obama.
"We here in the U.S. have a rich and diverse tapestry of colleges and universities, all really here to help our students be successful, build community and build our country," he said.
"Obama's master plan provides a way for America to resume prominence in college graduation rates."
The initiative started with a $12 billion investment in community colleges to stimulate economic recovery, Jablonski explained.
The money is being put to work in three ways: To fund innovative strategies to promote college completion and increase the number of graduates by 5 million in the year 2020.
To modernize community-college facilities "so that the types of programs required of us can be given because we have the right facilities for them."
To create a new Online Skills Laboratory.
"The president has proposed that we should build a national virtual infrastructure, which would be particularly helpful to rural areas to give more people access to college."
U.S. CAN'T WAIT
Jablonski said Obama's plan is centered on expanding community-college programs primarily because they provide open access to all students of every age.
"They are affordable; less financial aid is required; they are commuter friendly; and they can provide technical skills for the new economy.
"He told us some of the jobs lost in this economy won't be coming back. That forces us as a country to create a new economy. We should not wait around."
About half of all undergraduates in the United States attend one of 1,200 community colleges nationwide, Jablonski said.
And those numbers are growing. Enrollment at Clinton Community College rose 18 percent for spring semester 2010.
CCC has already established a new degree in wind-turbine technology, responding to regional growth in wind farms.
"We need to reflect what our local demographics want from us. 'Community' is our middle name. We also need to be providing lifelong learning experience. Really, we are living through a sea change."
College for Every Student has already put more than 25 programs in place connecting colleges and area high schools.
Dalton said that while the first switch to reset American education begins with community college, it has to include higher education across the board.
"It's not just about schooling — it's about health care; it's about energy; it's about the economy; it's about our democracy.
"Those are defined by the education and the skill of the work force."
E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com
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