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In the News...
April 6, 2006
COMMUNITY COLLEGES KEY PLAYER IN FLORIDAS WORKFORCE NEEDS
LEESBURG (April 6, 2006) - Lake-Sumter Community College, along with
Floridas other 27 community colleges, are playing an increasingly vital role in
preparing young people to enter the workforce and in retraining adults to
qualify for the fastest growing jobs in Florida.
According to Florida TaxWatchs new research report detailing community college
benefits to students and the states economy, it found that most of in-demand
jobs require community college degrees, not university degrees. Dominic M.
Calabro, president and CEO of this non-partisan government watchdog group says,
The community college students benefit from higher wages, while Florida and its
taxpayers benefit from the resulting higher employment, enhanced tax revenues,
lower social service costs and increased gross state product. The research also
notes additional advantages to the state through avoided costs of crime, welfare
and unemployment benefits. Weve been an efficient and productive system in
providing opportunities for an increasingly diverse and growing number of
Florida students, said LSCC President Charles Mojock, while providing a
crucial workforce to support the states growing economy.
Created in response to community needs for post secondary academic and technical
degree education, Floridas community colleges had an enrollment of 800,000
students last year, most of them part-time with an average age of 27 years old.
The Florida TaxWatch report states that university tuition increases and
tightening financial aid have driven more high school graduates toward community
colleges. Sixty percent of high school graduates, who go on to college, attend a
community college. Full-time enrollment rose 25 percent from 1999 to 2004, and
is expected to surpass 320,000 students by 2007. The report offers hard numbers
to document positive economic, civic and individual benefits of Floridas
community colleges. Additional findings included:
Community college graduates are paid more than high school graduates, with
additional annual earnings of $112 per credit hour taken or $3,926 for each
full-time (12 credit hours) student.
Community college graduates with an Associate in Arts degree earn $220,000
more and those with Associate in Science degrees earn $480,000 more in a
lifetime than a high school graduate.
Through their resulting increased spending power, those graduates will create
2.6 new jobs for
Floridas economy.
Public funding of community colleges more than repays itself in economic
growth by a 13.3 to 1 ratio.
Florida students enjoy a good return on investment as well, out performing on
average their national counterparts and enjoying a 34% return on investment,
compared to the national average of 25%.
Last year, the Florida Legislature appropriated $849 million dollars from
General Revenue and another $99 million from the Lottery to community colleges.
Student fees provided another $459 million. Florida TaxWatch recommends that
further research be done to determine what, if any changes, should be made to
state funding and how best to use the community colleges to meet current and
future student and workforce challenges.
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