Funding cuts are inevitable, but maybe we should spare community colleges

Under the category of "Minnesota isn't the only place it sucks for higher ed funding," I submit to you this from Stateline:

"COMMUNITY COLLEGE TUITION: As state legislators start chewing over their budget proposals, community college officials are warning that next year could force big tuition increases. In Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer wants to cut state aid to community colleges by 85 percent. Iowa community colleges stand to lose millions in state aid under Governor Terry Branstad's budget after already taking a hit under former Governor Chet Culver.  And in California, Governor Jerry Brown has proposed cutting $400 million from community colleges while also raising student fees. Until now, many states had tried to limit cuts to community colleges in an effort to keep some form of higher education accessible even as funding for four-year schools was being reduced."

So as you can see, community colleges are having a rough go of things around the country. Which really confuses me. While this article doesn't really put the cuts into context, it leads one to wonder why would community colleges be taking such a big hit. They're the cheapest colleges to run, don't require the big budgets to compete for star faculty. And perhaps more importantly, given the nation's push to make it easier for people to return to college for re-careering, community colleges remain the most viable option to take the vast majority of those students.

Maybe the budget thing is worse than we all thought. Maybe it's going to take more cutting all around. Maybe it's a bad idea to reign in education spending while trying to inspire more people to go back to college. I don't know. What I do know is community colleges are becoming the a bigger and bigger part of what's important about higher education.

From my personal experience, I can tell you South Central College was instrumental in transforming my wife's career. She worked for years at a bank, a job she did well, but it never really resonated with her personally. So she went to MSU's nursing program, figuring her alma mater would welcome her with open arms. They, um, didn't. In fact they basically discouraged her from trying. And after that meeting, she nearly gave up on the idea of becoming a nurse. But instead she decided to try talking to the folks at South Central College. Three years later, she earned a degree, got a job, loves her career and earns a lot more money.

And a community college made it possible.