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For Learning Practical Skills, You Can’t Beat Community Colleges

Years ago, my college German professor and I had a lively discussion about learning. He was extolling the virtues of a liberal arts education which, he told me, “isn’t supposed to teach you to do something; it’s supposed to teach you to be someone.” I responded, “You may be able to afford to be someone, but I have to learn to do something.

Community colleges, often considered the poor stepchild of four-year colleges and universities, are expert in providing their students with practical skills that lead to often lucrative jobs. Students developing hands-on knowledge of communications or medical technology, computer software use and programming, and other skills routinely find entry-level jobs that pay much more than retail sales and other low-paid work, and have the added opportunity of quickly advancing in their chosen professions as they develop additional skills.

Of course,