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April is Community College Month Start Planning NOW!


WASHINGTON — April 1, 2022 — The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) is excited to announce that its monthlong #CCMonth campaign designed to draw attention to the value of community colleges. The primary goals of #CCmonth are to improve awareness of the economic, academic and equity advantages of attending community colleges, and to bust longtime stigmas wrongly associated with public two-year colleges. The 2022 #CCMonth theme is “Your Community’s College.” While many people think of community colleges as “junior colleges” or solely as vocational educators, these unique institutions exist to serve their communities through proving access to high-quality higher education and workforce development programs, and by partnering with local businesses to meet and drive local and state economic interests. “We are excited to coordinate draw attention to our members’ Community College Month efforts,” ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee said. “#CCMonth is an opportunity to demonstrate not only that community colleges should be the first choice of many collegegoers, but why community colleges are first-class institutions that are vital to our local and state economies. We encourage members of the media to increase their attention to and coverage of the good works being done by community colleges this month.” Public community colleges are a uniquely American educational model that was designed to guarantee access to affordable, high-quality higher education for all people. They are the primary educators of life-saving nursing and other healthcare professionals among many others. They also serve as an onramp to bachelor’s, master’s and higher-level degrees for many students, and particularly for the most demographically and socioeconomically diverse students. They guarantee fair admissions for all students. They offer supports for adult students who have to work to support their families. And without community colleges, many American students would not be able to access higher education at all. In short, community colleges were created to serve the needs of their communities, and they do it exceptionally well. Despite all this, many American people wrongly believe that community colleges are inferior institutions, and in most states, universities receive significantly more per-student state support than community colleges do. These negative attitudes and disparities support and encourage ongoing socioeconomic and demographic disadvantages and inequities in the United States. “Community colleges are engines of diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Lee. “They give opportunities to all students, and they support all students throughout their educations, whether they attend to attain an associate degree or certificate, intend to transfer on for a bachelor’s or higher degree, or they take one or a few courses to learn a new skill or expand their horizons.” Last year’s #CCMonth campaign made millions of impressions across social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. This year, organizers are encouraging students and other to take the message to TikTok, too. A #CCMonth campaign toolkit is housed on the ACCT website, acct.org, including graphics, sample op-eds and press releases, social media posts, board resolutions and additional information. ACCT’s Twitter account, @CCTrustees, will be sharing information from member colleges throughout the month to amplify awareness.


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