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Hechinger Fellows Get Schooled on Community Colleges
Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter discusses President Obama's initiative to increase college completion rates during a session with education reporters attending the Hechinger Institute's Community College Fellowship program at TC.
Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter spoke on September 11 to education reporters participating in the Hechinger Institute’s Community College Fellowship program. Kanter, who is in charge of post-secondary education, vocational and adult education, and federal student aid at the U.S. Department of Education, described President Obama’s recently announced push to increase college completion rates.
In a videotaped interview with the TC Record, Kanter said the president’s American Graduate Initiative, announced in July, would:
In a videotaped interview with the TC Record, Kanter said the president’s American Graduate Initiative, announced in July, would:
- save $87 billion by implementing direct lending to students, and use those funds to increase college enrollment by 3.7 million additional students over the next decade;
- provide challenge grants for community colleges to work with high schools, colleges and businesses to increase graduation rates and improve job readiness training;
- look for and expand best educational practices to improve graduation rates; and
- build brick-and-mortar capacity and online instructional capabilities by making more federal loans and grants available to community colleges.
Eleven fellows participated in a week of workshops and discussions about community colleges. They heard guest speakers discuss the critical role community colleges will play in the nation’s economic recovery. Speakers included Lennox McLendon, Executive Director of the National Adult Education Professional Development Consortium; Pamela Tate, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning; Julian Alssid, Executive Director of Work Force Strategy; Donna Linderman, Director of the City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP); Jonathan Lightman, Executive Director of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC); and Thomas Bailey, Founding Director of the Center for Community College Research at Teachers College.
Published Thursday, Sep. 24, 2009
