Bush Promotes Community Colleges as Means to Jobs
By Alex Russel
Getting adult education at a community college is no extracurricular splurge. According to President Bush himself, community colleges are a crucial linchpin of the modern economy. Companies are beginning to rely on them directly to train workers in areas that need labor quickly.
"We must never lose sight of the need to have an education system that's capable of keeping this country competitive by adjusting to the workplace as it really is," Bush said to an assembly of students and faculty at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland. Community colleges do exactly that, Bush said.
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Community Colleges Lead to Jobs
Bush was visiting the school to promote his proposal to devote $250 million towards augmenting job development programs at community colleges.
"If all of a sudden somebody pops up and says, 'We need more nurses,' it makes sense to have a community college system say, 'We'll help you (and) put the curriculum in place to train people for nursing,'" the President said.
Nursing Jobs Explosion
Nursing wasn't an innocent example. In a seemingly choreographed Q&A session, Jeannetta Smith, a student at the college, told President Bush how she quit her job at a North Carolina textile plant in the face of impending layoffs; Smith went on to train as a nurse, and is completing another training program to increase her salary by 50 percent.
While that's more of an increase in salary than the average person should realistically anticipate, nursing is definitely an expansion industry. According to the U.S Bureau Statistics, by 2012 more new jobs will be created for registered nurses than for any other occupation.
Nursing Degrees Lead to Nursing Jobs
Accordingly, nursing is one of the most popular degree programs at community colleges nationwide. Most nursing students begin their new career with an associate's degree in nursing. With that degree, nursing students can land entry-level jobs and then move on to get a bachelor's degree and even, eventually, a nursing master's degree.
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About the Author
Alex Russel is a freelance writer living in Brooklyn, NY. Lucky enough to grow up in Europe with family all over the world, he has been a consummate traveler his whole life. Since graduating from Syracuse University he has worked at many different media companies in fields as diverse as film, TV, advertising, and journalism. He holds a dual bachelor's degree in English and History.
