In Michigan Barack Obama announced a $12 billion spending program for community colleges. But how effective are they? My American Enterprise Institute colleague is skeptical that the money will do much good. Hess argues that community colleges are mid-twentieth century institutions and that, while some do a lot of good, they tend not to represent the cutting edge of non-elite higher education in the age of the Internet and private higher education institutions like the University of Phoenix. My own suspicion is that pumping money into community colleges is just another attempt to insulate public employees from the effects of the recession.
