By Bill Mesce Jr.
In her piece explaining Essex County College’s first tuition increase in five years, Essex County College president Gale Gibson notes enrollment at the college rose 21 percent in the first two years after the Great Recession as young people looked to make themselves more job competitive in a sluggish economy. If President Obama manages to carry through with his American Graduation Initiative providing a free education to community college students, ECC’s enrollment is sure to jump even further. The current national enrollment for community colleges is already at six million and rising. But despite the noble intent of the AGI, and before we make a multi-billion dollar wager at sending millions of young people into the community college system, it’s worth examining the current gap between the equally noble ambition of community colleges and outcomes.
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