Jobs for the Future (JFF) today released three new publications examining innovative ways community colleges are serving their students, communities, and emerging workforce needs. JFF develops, implements, and promotes new education and workforce strategies that help communities, states, and the nation compete in a global economy. In more than 200 communities across 43 states, JFF improves the pathways leading from high school to college to family-sustaining careers.
Informed by research from the MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award program and other JFF initiatives, the briefs highlight effective examples of preparation in mathematics and for careers in health care and the green economy. Each offers new perspectives on the issue of college and career readiness. “Across the nation, community colleges are leaders in providing educational and career opportunities for students of all ages and supporting local economic development,” said Dennis White, president and CEO of MetLife Foundation. “The profiles of innovation in these publications provide good news for students and the future of America’s workforce.”
“Community colleges are instrumental in preparing, retraining, and reenergizing the U.S. workforce for the 21st century,” said Marlene B. Seltzer, president and CEO of Jobs for the Future. “The colleges featured in these briefs provide prime examples of creative solutions that specifically address community-based challenges.” The report highlights community colleges development in developmental math healthcare training and going green. The emerging and expanding green economy has the potential to create not just jobs, but career opportunities across the United States as green manufacturing, products, and services fuel demand for workers at all skill levels. Community colleges are leading the way in defining and addressing these opportunities, developing programs in expanding fields from solar energy to green construction; creating new and better training programs for green jobs; and developing educational pathways that lead to the Associate’s and Bachelor’s degrees that are key for advancing in these emerging careers.