U.S. President Barack Obama is planning to make two years of community college accessible for up to nine million Americans, allowing a huge segment of the population access to one of the most important tools for success—education.
It doesn’t matter where the degree comes from or what program you’re in, the time spent studying is an invaluable asset.
This idea was articulated by the actor Tom Hanks in a reflection on his time at Chabot College, a community college in California.
Hanks said he was an underachiever in high school and could not afford tuition for college, ending up at Chabot because “it accepted everyone and was free.”
He credited Chabot with offering classes he liked, as well as providing him with the fundamentals of acting; skills he has used throughout his life.
Community college was a crucial stepping stone in his life, as it is for many others. Chabot also allowed Hanks to obtain the necessary credits for free, which he could then transfer to a university. As Hanks puts it, “that place made me what I am today.”
While it’s true the requirements needed to get into Carleton can be much higher than at many community colleges, they do provide an invaluable service.
It’s easy and convenient to look at community colleges with condescension. It’s also easy and convenient to forget that not everyone is able or wants to attend university.
Some people don’t attend university because they don’t have the money, time, or academic mindset—but dreams of education shouldn’t end because of those factors. University isn’t for everyone, but the opportunity for education should be, which is where these community colleges become important.
Life is filled with all kinds of distractions. Some of Hanks’ classmates at Chabot were Vietnam War vets and women of varied marital and maternal status.
Ask a mature student and you may find a story of being sidetracked—the woman pregnant at 19, the competitive athlete, the person who ran away from home as a teenager or grew up in poverty—all back in school.
For some of these individuals, affording tuition for university is still difficult. A cheaper alternative is community college.
Hanks was able to study American history, Shakespeare, film and drama—all subjects you’re able to study here at Carleton and many other universities—but at little cost.
Some people leave community colleges with a degree in journalism, finance, computer science, or theatre. While it may seem lowly to us in the ivory tower of university, these degrees are important.
Learning doesn’t necessarily mean studying Plato or learning quantitative physics. People have varied skills—some work better in academia, others in the practical realm. Community colleges are places where people are able to hone their talents in the trades, and reap the benefits of it.
Hanks wrote in his op-ed, “for thousands of commuting students, Chabot was our Columbia.” While Chabot isn’t Columbia University in terms of academic prestige, having that kind of access to affordable education has the power to positively change lives.
And let’s not forget why we’re at school, we want to educate ourselves and make our lives better. Post-secondary education is the best tool to help people climb the socioeconomic ladder. For many, education is a way out of poverty.
Obama’s proposal is an investment in nine million people, with the end result being a more skilled workforce. But it also represents the idea that it doesn’t matter what school you go to, as long as you have the opportunity to learn.
