Professor Van Ry

Community colleges are in a key position to move the needle on employment. This is because the strength of local economies and the productivity of employers has a lot to do with the quality of the workforce, and the quality of the workforce has a lot to do with how people are being trained, educated, and prepared for the labor market. Furthermore, roughly half of all undergraduate students in the U.S. are enrolled at community colleges, which means that community colleges have an enormous opportunity to impact the national economy through their education and training efforts.

Investment In Education

First, a word on education. Education presents a unique investment scenario. Typically, investment opportunities with higher ROI have more risk and those with lower ROI have less. But for education, it’s actually the inverse. The greater the investment, the greater the return and the lower the risk. In this case, investment in education yields higher earnings and decreased chances of becoming unemployed.

 

This can be evidenced by many studies that we have performed over the years. For instance, a recent analysis of Florida colleges found that students receive a cumulative $6 in higher future income over the course of their working careers for every dollar they spend. <Read more.>

Via Rob Sentz, EMSI.