It is the best and worst of times for the public perception of community colleges, which swings from the darling of policymakers to the spurned stepchild of higher education. Historically, funding for community colleges has lagged behind other institutions of higher education, despite the fact that, of students who completed a four-year college degree in 2015–2016, almost half had enrolled in a community college in the past 10 years, Harvard Business Review reports.
Leadership at these institutions faces specific challenges unique to their corner of higher education, including big swings in enrollment and tight budgets.
Central to the future of community colleges is the ability to build partnerships and collaborations with business and the government that create efficiencies, while also addressing shared needs.
A recent survey of community college leaders that asked them to identify the most pressing challenges facing community colleges found that changes in the schools’ business models, teaching policies and the administrator’s ability to take risks to adapt to innovation were the top concerns. Read the full report from Harvard Business Review.
