Editorial: Pa. needs more community colleges

The coronavirus pandemic has complicated so much about education. Is it possible it might actually help solve a problem instead of creating one?

It might.

Higher education has struggled in recent years to balance the roles of universities as economic engines and research powerhouses with the costs that support them — costs that continue to push increases in tuition and crippling levels of student debt.

Then covid-19 swept in. The 2020 spring semester was abruptly ended and students sent home to finish at a distance. Summer programs, study abroad and sports were thrown into chaos. Fall openings became as much about politics as learning or safety.

Now some students and parents are wondering why they should pay $20,000 or so for a year at college without stepping foot on the campus.

Elizabeth Bolden, president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges, says enrollment in the 14 community colleges in the state is “trending up,” and price is a factor.

“We estimate a student could save as much as $20,000 on the cost of an education if they start at a community college,” she said in a Facebook Live conference.

That could be a 25% reduction for a four-year degree. It is more than half of the average student loan debt of $36,000, according to Experian.

So why hasn’t Pennsylvania long ago worked to increase its community college presence?

There are fewer community colleges than there are Penn State branch campuses. There are the same number as there are state universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which have suffered from declining enrollment for nine years.

PASSHE’s leadership took steps in July to fix the system’s financial problems with a redesign that would pair schools like California and Clarion, Slippery Rock and Edinboro to share resources and reduce costs.

But why not take it a step further? Why not redesign some of those 14 universities into a community college system more like that in New York, which has 35 such schools, or Florida with its 28?

Community colleges — like Allegheny and Westmoreland counties’ — are good for more than just a jump start on a four-year program. They support targeted workforce development for local industries. They dovetail with vocational training. They encourage economic development.

All of those are goals that Pennsylvania’s governors have supported through multiple administrations. So have state and federal legislators.

Redesigning the system as a network of community colleges would keep them in their communities. It could continue the positive work of those schools while being more responsive to needs and affordable to families.

And wouldn’t it be great to have that be part of the change that grows out of a pandemic?