The two-year option: Community college growth demands the schools be prepared to welcome it

The Free Lance Star published the following editorial today:

IF EDUCATION beyond high school is the key to a more successful future (and it is), then Virginia students and families need a practical alternative to the four-year commitment, escalating cost, and increasing selectivity associated with Virginia's public and private four-year colleges and universities.

The state's community college system must be prepared to fulfill that need close to home, at an affordable cost, and with the flexibility modern life requires. It is already striving to meet that responsibility in an admirable manner.

But community college officials here and in other states see their mission unfairly hampered in many ways, from a lingering reputation as being more high school, to being the place for those ill-suited or ill-prepared for grander institutions. By now, the public should know that's hogwash.

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