Opinion

The challenges community colleges face are daunting—but Bill Pink, president of Grand Rapids Community College, believes this could be their finest hour. If they seize it.

The American economic gospel of getting an education and finding a job has wavered. We need new solutions, writes Gordon Freedman, president of the National Laboratory for Education Transformation.

When Blue Ridge Community College decided to go all in on adult learners, its leaders didn't know if it would work. But they had nothing to lose, writes president Laura Leatherwood. She offers insight for other colleges considering a similar move.

Policies that deny students access to their transcripts because of college debt disproportionately lock low-income learners and people of color out of opportunity. Colleges and policymakers can change that, writes Sosanya Jones of Howard University and Ithaka S+R.

Wrap-around supports are essential if colleges want to help more students succeed, writes Mark Mitsui, president of Portland Community College. And those supports don't have to be a cost center—but can actually provide returns.

Less than 1 percent of government funding is tied to results-oriented workforce training programs. And that's an urgent problem, writes Angela Jackson, managing partner at New Profit.

Opinion: As Congress shapes an expansive 'Build Back Better' plan, it can't forget funds for retraining, writes Maria Flynn, CEO of JFF. Otherwise, the legislation could unintentionally create millions of new jobs without preparing workers to fill them.

People often reduce college choice to either a degree or a short-term credential, writes Chauncy Lennon of Lumina Foundation. But that's a false binary, and reveals fundamental flaws in how we think about credentials.

Investments in education are critical to the future of professional caregiving—but they alone won't be enough, writes Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health. The economics and equity of the whole system need to be rethought.

As higher education works to enroll more first-generation, underrepresented minority, and Pell-eligible students, economic mobility has become a critical social justice issue for institutions, write Mark Smith, former dean for career services at Wash U., and Matt Small, president and CEO of Symplicity.