Community Colleges Need More Taxpayer Money?

Attendance at community colleges is surging across the country. This can be credited to tax incentives, the intentional delay of younger students of attending higher-cost four year colleges, and older students looking to re-train for a new career.

One would think that all of these new students would only cause the bottom line to soar at the community colleges (just imagine how giddy an actual business would be with all these new customers!).

But, alas, in the government-funded world, just the opposite appears to be happening.

"Grappling with soaring enrollment and plummeting state support, community colleges are grateful for the higher profile but disappointed money has yet to materialize to help them keep up with demand, let alone meet ambitious Obama administration goals to make the U.S. the global leader in college graduates again by 2020.

The economic downturn has pressured both schools and their students, most of whom work long hours. Sinking tax revenues at state and local levels have forced public colleges to cut courses or schedule them around the clock, slash summer sessions, eliminate academic programs and even restrict enrollment."

Fine, I get the reduced amount of dollars sent to community colleges by state governments.

But instead of whining about the reduced amount of transfer payments, community college presidents should be thankful for surging demand and the ability to run their campuses like an actual business by reducing costs and increasing tuition as necessary.

If they are not up to the task, then resign and put someone more competent in charge.