In President Obama's 2015 State of the Union address, he pointed to the increasing importance of offering affordable career training options to all Americans. In one part of the speech, the President said: "In the coming years, jobs requiring at least an associate degree are projected to grow twice as fast as jobs requiring no college experience. We will not fill those jobs – or keep those jobs on our shores – without the training offered by community colleges.”
In the context of the aforementioned speech, one of the two national goals set forth from the White House involves having an additional five million students graduating from the community college system. So why, then, has the government looked toward community colleges to train America's workforce and keep them competitive in this global economy? Because community colleges offer a number of attractive benefits to students and local employers. Following are some of the benefits of receiving career training at a community college.
- Affordable Tuition Costs: Compared to a four-year institution of higher learning, community colleges save students, on average, about 50 percent of college tuition and fees. Flexible scheduling options also help many community college students maintain a full-time job while developing their skills. Many students can also begin paying off their tuition while learning, thus leaving them much less in the way of student loans at the end of their program.
- Smaller Class Sizes: Smaller class sizes often translates toward more personalized attention, a factor many community college students need or prefer. Thus, in taking the coursework, students can often develop a relationship with the faculty, rather than participate in large lecture-style courses often taught by teaching assistants at large, four-year institutions.
- Career-Specific Training: Career training Union County include more than 100 programs leading to high-growth and high-demand career fields. Further, relationships with a number of local industries assists the community colleges in equipping their schools with the latest technology and up-to-date industry practices currently in use within their chosen industries. Thus, students are not simply saddled with theoretical knowledge. Instead, they are offered practical, hands-on training that can be quickly applied on the job.
