Ohio's decision to let community colleges award four-year degrees is part of a growing national trend. When this article went to press, more than 90 community colleges across 19 states offered active four-year degree programs. Counting New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, which technically is a community college, but offers degrees as high…

John Pulley begins this article by sharing the story of Richard Quiroga, a shining example of what can happen when an at-risk student in an economically disadvantaged region gets the right training at the right time. As a young man, Quiroga was living on his own and at risk of getting sucked into the whirlpool of poverty and despair that often…

This article describes how out-of-work miners are engaged in the Empowering Education Initiative, a unique alliance between Country Music Television (CMT) and community colleges in Appalachia. The initiative, which includes a website and a series of country music concerts, is changing the conversation in the Appalachian region, giving hope to…