For Release: 2008-03-03 09:52:00
Community colleges are the fastest-growing segment of American higher education, and, some say, the most vital to America’s future. Discounted Dreams: High Hopes and Harsh Realities, which examines both the promise and the problems of community colleges, airs Thursday, March 20 at 10/9 p.m. CT on KET2.They are the gateway to the American dream for millions of citizens, new and old. These 1,200 institutions represent the fastest-growing segment of American higher education; their open admissions policy, low tuition and flexible scheduling draw students from all walks of life.
Important as they are, however, community colleges can also be seriously flawed. One problem is chronic under-funding. Government generally spends five times as much on prison inmates as it does on community college students, for example. And the “open door” admissions policy is too often a revolving door, with barely 30 percent of students ever earning a degree or certificate or successfully transferring to a four-year institution.
Reported and narrated by Peabody Award-winning correspondent John Merrow, the program was filmed at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College and San Diego City College, both in southern California; Joliet Junior College in Joliet, Ill.; and LaGuardia Community College in Queens, N.Y.
Discounted Dreams: High Hopes and Harsh Realities is produced by Learning Matters Inc. More information about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.
Contact: Ellen Soileau
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