In a nation where 6 million jobs are unfilled for lack of trained workers and businesses clamor for more technical education, apprenticeships and workforce training, I was startled to hear White House counselor Kellyanne Conway comment that “not everyone is college material.” Perhaps some disconnect is to blame — a disconnect between 21st-century community colleges and some antiquated notion of vocational schools.
Faculty at Montgomery College, where I serve as president, trains thousands of students for middle-skills jobs, which account for 53 percent of the U.S. labor market. Such jobs require education beyond a high school degree — an associate’s degree, an apprenticeship or a certificate — but not necessarily four years of college.
Read Next
