Community Colleges, Future Challenges Why

Community Colleges, Future Challenges

Why was the community college movement a uniquely American, major "invention" within education?

As time evolved in the time period surrounding the Second World War, the American general community and the administration became growingly aware of the role played by education to the overall well-being of the country. As a result, the growth of higher education institutions seemed unstoppable and registered levels higher than in any other global region. Furthermore, in order to attract more students, and with high hopes of successful outcomes in the educational field, universities incrementally diversified their offering of educational services. More colleges were opened and they offered a wide array of courses in a multitude of fields. It can then be concluded that the diversification and specialization constituted the second major reason that made the community college movement a real invention in the American educational system.

A third aspect that made American public schooling successful was the fact that it was finally perceived as a business -- a not-for-profit business that it. In this perception, the administration identified the need to hire specialists to run the institutions. The benefit of this endeavor was that these professionals were able to most adequately manage the resources, the requirements and so on. Fourth, another endeavor which increased the success rates and popularity of the schooling system was the offering of federal aid. This would be granted to universities for special purposes, such as the construction of a new laboratory, or directly to students. A final argument in support of American public education perceived as an innovation is that the system became stronger through political efforts, mostly materialized in lobbying for various political parties, and as such gaining in terms of both finance as well as prestige.

b. Please discuss new issues that are presenting themselves to our community and how they relate to their historical antecedents.

In both historic times as well as modern day era, the higher education institutions faced several financial challenges. After the WWII, the interest in the schooling department decreased significantly and so does today. Despite initial growths, various changes in the macroenvironment have forced stakeholders to switch their attention to other fields. Another recurrent problem is that of shortages in educational staff members. The matter can be explained by the simple fact that, due to reduced financial gains in the field, professors are often willing to turn their attention to other sectors. They for instance choose to work in the private educational sector, or to renounce education for all and practice what they used to teach. This matter is directly linked to the lack of sufficient financial resources, which also generates other shortages as well.