A Prescription for the Emerging World: The Global Potential of the Community College Model

Maybe what the world news now is more community-college like institutions in developing countries. These authors make an argument:

For a developing country, a community college system could offer a model of higher education that provides flexibility in terms of curriculum and training and is at the same time deeply tied to the specific character and needs of the local economy. The development of multiple sites within a country rather than the promotion of a single “great university” provides a nodal structure that is inherently more capable of innovation and rapid response to community need . . . [I]f countries are willing to adopt and adapt a community college-like system, there is the potential for greater positive outcomes than just a larger proportion of a country’s citizens educated to higher levels. One is the opportunity to reform existing power structures in such a way as to encourage a greater democratic impulse throughout the world.