A national initiative focused on retaining and graduating students at community colleges.

With the economy in chaos and a new administration taking power, the nation is looking for a better way to meet the educational and vocational needs of its citizens. A key strategy may reside in that most American of educational institutions, the community college. Two-year colleges have been the pathway to middle-class careers for millions of Americans since before the dawn of the 20th century, when another economic crisis, the Panic of 1893, led to the earliest discussions about them.

The idea caught on in a big way in the early 20th century, when they were seen as a creative, community-minded way to implement educational reform and address the growing need for vocational education, access to higher education, and a way to educate part-time and older students. Since their explosive growth in the 1960s, they have been an integral part of the American higher education landscape.

Full Report: http://www.changemag.org/January-February%202009/full-achieving-dream.html