White House Summit on Community College

On October 5, 2010, Dr. Jill Biden chaired the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges. Community colleges will play a vital role in the effort to achieve President Obama’s goal for the United States to lead the world in college graduation rates by 2020.

The summit brought together leaders from various sectors—community colleges, business, philanthropy, federal and state policymakers, and students were all represented—to discuss how community colleges can better meet the job training and education needs of the nation’s evolving workforce.

CCRC researchers contributed issue briefs on high school and college student readiness partnerships and developmental education. CCRC Director Thomas Bailey and CCRC Advisory Board Member and Macomb Community College President James Jacobs participated in the event.

The summit followed on the heels of President Obama’s announcement of the launch of the Skills for America’s Future initiative at the October 4 meeting of the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB). The initiative is designed to strengthen partnerships between community colleges and major employers, such as McDonald’s and Pacific Gas & Electric, in all 50 states. The goal is to build a nationwide network to maximize workforce development strategies, job training programs, and job placement.