Community Colleges See Stimulus Bill as Bonanza for Their Students

Community colleges are pretty happy with much of the stimulus, especially the changes in how Workforce Investment Act money gets distributed. (Hint: faster.)

David S. Baime, vice president for government relations at the American Association of Community Colleges, said on Monday that the change would help community colleges cover the full cost of the education they are providing, which is much higher than the average tuition that the colleges charge, $2,400 per year. With the extra cash, the colleges could pay for equipment, curriculum packages, additional faculty members, and other needs. The change would be especially helpful for programs in some technical fields that are in growing demand but are much more expensive to operate than are general-education programs.

"At a time when the colleges are getting budget cuts … getting those expenditures covered by the federal government is really helpful," Mr. Baime said.

He added that the shift in how Workforce Investment Act money gets doled out would allow more money to be spent faster than with the voucher system. That factor is consistent with the goals of the economic-stimulus bill, which seeks to pull the economy out of recession by quickly pumping federal money into circulation. The exact amount of money that would go to community colleges, and how it would be spent, would depend on what institutions the local boards awarded grants to and what spending the they deemed eligible.