Wheary: Community colleges are delivering

Unemployment remains high among recent college graduates, and more people are wondering whether a bachelor's degree is worth the investment. There's no doubt that today's graduates face a rocky climb. The average student-loan debt among bachelor-degree holders is $24,000, according to the Project on Student Debt, a nonprofit research and policy organization. Many grads have no decent job prospects in sight. Some Occupy Wall Street protesters are calling for debt forgiveness. The anger of those having four-year degrees and no discernible future is palpable.

Behind the concern and anger is the assumption that a bachelor's degree is the holy grail of economic opportunity. Yet four-year degrees are hardly the only route to financial stability.

Community colleges awarded more than 1 million credentials in 2010, according to a report released this month by the American Association of Community Colleges. This included a mix of traditional associate's degrees and occupational certificates. As individuals seek more job skills, community college enrollments are growing -- from 10.6 million to 12 million students nationally over just the last three years.

The growth is with good reason. In some cases, certificates and associate's degrees earned at community colleges deliver greater salary prospects to young workers than four-year degrees.

In 2009, researchers at the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University analyzed national census data and identified fields where the earnings of community college credentials outdid those of bachelor's degrees. They found that starting salaries were often higher for those who earned job-specific certificates and associate's degrees from community colleges -- an effect that in many cases held up when median salaries were compared eight years after graduation.

It all comes down to what you are studying. Certificate holders tend to train for specific occupations, like heating and air-conditioning technician or nursing assistant. Jobs held by humanities, social science and liberal arts degree holders tend not to deliver the same immediate salary dividends. Georgetown also recently studied unemployment by major, and found that those holding more job-specific credentials had lower levels of unemployment than generalists. And a report the center released today shows that those with community college credentials in science and technology are garnering good jobs and wages even in the current economy.

These differences are particularly meaningful when you consider the time and money invested to get the degrees. Public four-year schools in the State University of New York system charge $6,600 per year in tuition and fees for in-state students. SUNY two-year colleges charge about $4,200. When you add in living and other expenses, SUNY's four-year-college students are paying more than $21,000 a year, compared with about $17,000 for full-time associate-degree seekers at community colleges. Those earning certificates and degrees at community colleges invest much less time and spend thousands of dollars less to earn marketable credentials.

Escalating college costs, rising student debt and the jobs crisis affecting four-year-degree holders are real worries. But the assumption by too many students and their families that four-year degrees are their best option ignores the potential of community colleges as a vital path to economic opportunity.

It also ignores the real challenges community colleges face in getting their students to the graduation march. Among them are the fact that those in certificate programs have little access to financial aid, and that community colleges have suffered more in the recession and experienced more cuts than other higher education institutions, according to a report released this month by the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity and Accountability, a research group. It's time that community colleges drew more positive attention. They are already serving many students well, and can deliver even more benefits if given further resources.