Regardless of the associations you may make now, there is one you need to add - economic development.
In states across the nation, at every level - from the individual graduate's paychecks to state coffers - comprehensive community colleges are driving the economy in a number of significant, even startling, ways.
Annually, U.S. students earn some 665,000 associate degrees. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that by completing two-year degrees, graduates increase their annual earning power by nearly $7,000 per year and decrease their chances of unemployment by up to 5 percent compared to high school graduates.
In Utah last year, 2,829 new professionals earned degrees from Salt Lake Community College. Our graduates entered the workforce ready to make contributions in a wide range of professions, including the top eight fastest-growing jobs in Utah.
While an education certainly provides great rewards for graduates, economic development doesn't stop with the individual. In the past 25 years, more than 40,000 students have earned certificates and degrees from SLCC. By continuing their education after high school, graduates increased their annual earning potential by nearly $304 million.
Over the span of their careers, that potential increases to $12.2 billion. With the wages they earn, they buy goods and services, invest in homes, raise their children and pay the taxes that maintain our beautiful state.
According to a study by the Association of Community College Trustees, communities with strong, comprehensive community colleges experience lower poverty rates, reduced crime, reduced unemployment and reduced reliance on welfare programs, with a cumulative decreased demand on public budgets equal to a 17 percent return on investment to state and local governments.
Even more important than the economic data is the impact associate degree holders have on our daily lives. They are our community's first responders. In fact, 80 percent of the nation's first responders - our police and public safety professionals, firefighters, nurses, EMTs, homeland security personnel - hold associate degrees. In virtually every industry, they are our unsung heroes, quietly and competently keeping our systems running and our communities vibrant.
Imagine a common, but potentially catastrophic, event. As I sit at my desk writing this column, I suddenly feel a terrible pain in my chest. It radiates down my arm. I'm having a heart attack! I need to seek medical care immediately and dial 911.
The dispatcher quickly assesses my situation and sends an ambulance (maintained by a competent automotive technician). Two highly-skilled emergency medical technicians arrive and work quickly to stabilize my vital signs. They rush me to the emergency room where a triage nurse assesses my condition. Next, a medical technician hooks up an EKG while others work around me collecting data and preparing me to see a doctor.
Every step of the way, my life is in the hands of competent professionals trained at the community college level, stabilizing me until I reach the doctor trained at the university. Metaphorically speaking, this continuum of educational expertise maintains and enhances the health of each community in Utah as well.
So the next time you hear the words "comprehensive community college," envision just one SLCC graduate and wonder for a moment where they are working today - in a hospital or a biotechnology lab, an office or construction site, an automotive shop or aircraft hangar.
Wherever they may be, there are thousands more like them on the job in Utah, doing business, conducting research and providing the services that make our community safer, more enjoyable and more prosperous.
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* CYNTHIA BIOTEAU is president of Salt Lake Community College.
