President Trump’s call for more vocational training Thursday reflects statements he made during Tuesday’s State of the Union, during which he called for a larger national investment in work-force development. But community college leaders were quick to point out that their institutions already offer the vocational or work-force programs Trump has highlighted, and more.
“There is a lot of complexity in the mission of community colleges, and the president is trying to simplify our mission into a sound bite,” said Karen Stout, president and chief executive officer of Achieving the Dream, a nonprofit group that focuses on college completion in the two-year sector. “Many of us have very strong vocational components to our mission and do the work he describes. We work closely with employers in our areas, with unions and other apprenticeship organizations to meet labor market demands.”
Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/02/02/trump-calls-converting-community-colleges-vocational-schools