Sparing community colleges makes good economic sense - Debbie L. Sydow, President, Onodaga Community College

On behalf of the more than 221,000 students enrolled in New York's community colleges, I extend gratitude to members of the State Legislature for their demonstrated support of New Yorkers who seek entry to higher education and living-wage jobs through our 36 community colleges. Over the past 10 years, enrollment in New York's community colleges has increased by nearly 22 percent. It currently accounts for more than half (50.4 percent) of student enrollment in the State University of New York system. This is because of our now-well-established value proposition. Indeed, where else can one be assured of highly credentialed and highly supportive faculty dedicated to classroom teaching, small class sizes where students and professors know each other by name, and hundreds of degree and certificate programs that lead directly to university transfer or workforce entry?