Time to pony up for community colleges

The state's community college system has done its part in planning to expand the state's higher-education slots to meet industry demand — as the Legislature directed earlier this year. Now, lawmakers must pony up the $1.66 million they neglected to appropriate for the program.

The need is there. According to a recent biannual state survey of employers, 68 percent of employers trying to hire employees with bachelor's degrees had trouble finding qualified applicants. The state Board for Community and Technical Colleges recently approved criteria for two programs at the community-college level. Now it needs money to deploy the programs.

• About $904,000 is needed to begin — and operate for the first year — pilot programs to grant four-year applied bachelor's degrees at four community colleges.

"Applied" denotes a focus on the specialized workplace — such as applied technology, radiology or hospitality management. The program would enroll about 80 in 2007 and add another 80 the next year.

• Another $756,000 would go to three community colleges that would establish partnerships with universities providing bachelor's degrees.

Several of the state's four-year universities have bachelor's programs on community-college campuses, but they tend to be at the universities' discretion. This program would give a community college the money to lure a regional university's expertise to fit a specific need in its community. Over two years, the program would grow to 240 students.

For years, state higher-education funding has lagged demand not only from a growing number of students but also employers needing better-trained workers.

These pilot programs to expand bachelor-degree programs at community-college campuses are a prudent, relatively low-cost way of making a difference to students and employers.