Letter to Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States - Bonamici Leads 8 Members of Congress with Ties to Community Colleges in Call to Work with First Lady Biden

Letter

Dear Dr. Biden,

We are grateful for your long-standing commitment to strengthening community colleges. In addition to being supporters of these important institutions of higher education, we are also graduates, former students, instructors, professors, and community college trustees. As such, we know firsthand the power and potential of community colleges to open the doors to new opportunities. Your history-making role as a community college professor and First Lady will shine a bright light on the value of these institutions.

The approximately 1,000 community colleges across our nation play an important role in serving students, especially those with the greatest needs. These institutions enroll approximately twenty-seven percent of all Asian American and Pacific Islander students, roughly a third of all Black students, forty-four percent of all Latino students, thirty-seven percent of all low-income students, and forty-eight percent of all first-generation students.

Many students today face numerous challenges during their pursuit of higher education that deter completion, including balancing school and work, finding affordable child care, and facing food and housing insecurity. One study conducted by the Wisconsin Hope Center found that 7 of 10 students at two-year colleges experienced food or housing insecurity over the course of a single year.2 Community colleges play a vital role in helping students connect to the resources they need to overcome these and other challenges and go on to secure a degree. Unfortunately, community colleges also face a variety of barriers to serving students, especially a lack of resources. Though the community colleges in our districts have been working hard to continue to support and educate students during the COVID-19 pandemic, this health and economic crisis has increased the strain on their already limited resources. Community colleges across the nation are doing innovative work, but they need our help and support.

As a nation, we must do more to make sure that people of all backgrounds, and especially people from historically underrepresented backgrounds, have access to a quality, affordable college education. A key piece of this work involves the federal government fulfilling its role in education to promote equity, and to safeguard and expand educational opportunities by making sure that higher education institutions serving historically underrepresented student populations, including community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Minority-Serving Institutions, have the resources they need to grow, thrive, and continue to support their students. The next iteration of the Higher Education Act, which is overdue for reauthorization, must be updated to better meet the needs of today's students and address barriers to degree completion.

A college education continues to be a good investment and a powerful force for economic and social mobility in our country. As members who have benefited from our experiences with community colleges, we look forward to working with you to make sure all students have access to meaningful degrees at all levels: industry-recognized credentials, associate's degrees, bachelor's degrees, and beyond.

Sincerely,