Barton Community College has joined community colleges across the country in celebrating Community College Month (#CCMonth), a grassroots campaign coordinated by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) to improve awareness of the economic, academic, and equity benefits of community colleges, and dispel misconceptions.

“Community colleges are true catalysts of prosperity in our communities,” said Barton President Dr. Carl Heilman. “The obvious benefit of community colleges is tied to our mission of higher education access and affordability without sacrificing quality or rigor and we offer dozens of career and technical programs that are relevant to local workforce needs. But, there is so much more to the story. The Community College Month campaign will hopefully shine a light on how much of an impact we have on our communities.” 

According to the ACCT, public community colleges are a uniquely American educational model that was designed to guarantee access to affordable, high-quality higher education for all. Among the many things that make community colleges unique:

• They guarantee fair admissions and affordable access for all students; without community colleges, many American students would not be able to access higher education at all. 

• They are the primary educators of their community’s nurses and other healthcare professionals, including first responders.

• They offer career and technical programs tailored to local workforce needs.

• They offer support for adult students who have to work to support their families while returning to school.

• They serve as an onramp to bachelor’s, master’s and higher-level degrees, particularly for the most demographically and socioeconomically diverse students. 

• Community Colleges bring in millions of outside dollars into their communities through state and federal funding and grants. Barton Community College’s return on investment, confirmed by the Docking Institute, is nearly $3 for every Barton County tax dollar invested.

In short, community colleges were created to serve the needs of their communities, and they do it exceptionally well.

Despite all this, many Americans wrongly believe that community colleges are inferior institutions, and in most states, universities receive significantly more per-student state support than community colleges do. These negative attitudes and disparities support and encourage ongoing socioeconomic and demographic disadvantages and inequities in the United States. 

“Community colleges are engines of diversity, equity and inclusion,” said ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee. “They give opportunities to all students, and they support all students throughout their educations, whether they attend to attain an associate degree or certificate, intend to transfer on for a bachelor’s or higher degree, or they take one or a few courses to learn a new skill or expand their horizons.”