Jobs for the Future administers the MetLife Foundation Community
College Excellence Award. The award is given to colleges that
are especially effective in helping students from underserved
populations to succeed in postsecondary learning.
The 2008 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award went to The Community College of Baltimore County in Maryland and South Texas College in McAllen, Texas.
The 2006 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award was given to Indian River Community College in Fort Pierce, Florida, and LaGuardia Community College, in Long Island City, New York.
City College of San Francisco and Community College of Denver were the recipients
of the 2004 MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award.
West Hills Community College of California's San Joaquin
Valley and Sinclair Community College of Dayton, Ohio,
were the recipients of the first award, announced in 2002.
Rationale
In 1959, only 20 percent of American workers needed at least
some college to do their jobs well. Today, more than half do.
By some estimates, 80 percent of new jobs require postsecondary
education. College credentials are fast becoming the dividing
line between a job that pays a family-supporting income and a
life of entry-level employment and poverty. Accompanying these
economic trends are changes in the composition of new college-goers
that make “business as usual” an inadequate response from postsecondary
institutions.
Across the country, innovative community colleges are stepping
up to this challenge. They are pursuing a range of new approaches
to helping low-income youth and working adults gain skills and
credentials they need to succeed in today's economy.
The MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence Award celebrates
and highlights the contributions of community colleges to helping
underserved youth and adults succeed and advance in college and
career. The award recognizes community colleges that, in different
ways and in very different communities, make significant institutional
commitments to helping first-time college-goers, new immigrants,
working adults, welfare recipients, high school dropouts, and
other populations with limited college experience and success
prepare for further education or for a family-supporting career.
JFF's Approach
- Identify and promote community
college best practices in regard to underserved populations
and communities. In conjunction with national advisors
and MetLife Foundation, Jobs for the Future refines
the criteria for what constitutes best practice in serving
non-traditional learners and identifies candidate
institutions across the nation for consideration by a
nationally respected award-review panel.
- Design and administer a process and structure for the MetLife Foundation Community College Excellence
Award. Each winner receives a $30,000 cash award.
Expected Results
- Reward and bring national visibility
to innovative, high-performing community colleges that
are exemplary in their service to at-risk youth and
working adults
- Inspire other programs and institutions,
accelerating the diffusion of exemplary efforts.
Partner and Funder
MetLife Foundation
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Best In Class: Community Colleges Could Take Notes from the Nation's Top Schools 
