Community colleges an asset to Ohio

Last Monday, I was proud to send off Dr. Betty Young, president of Northwest State Community College, as she started her Lessons for Leno cross-country motorcycle journey to defend the reputation of community colleges in Ohio and across the nation.
Saddled on her Harley-Davidson, Dr. Betty, as she likes to be called, she rode from Ohio to California to meet with The Tonight Show host Jay Leno, whose jokes frequently target community colleges. (She was scheduled to be in the Tonight Show audience tonight, but the show's website made no reference to her being a guest -- Ed.)
Dr. Betty's initiative gives Ohioans an important opportunity to reflect on the asset that is our community and technical college network.
Overall, Ohio has 24 public community and technical colleges providing first-class, affordable education to more than 171,670 students across the state. This valuable network of campuses dots the landscape of Ohio, from the Northwestern corner of the state (Northwest State Community College) to the Southeastern corner (Washington State Community College) and from the Northeastern corner (Lakeland Community College) to the Southwestern corner (Cincinnati State Technical and Community College) and everywhere in between.
Community colleges have the equipment, expertise and ability to train Ohio's workforce for the jobs of today, which will help attract tomorrow's jobs to our state. Our state's valuable network of community colleges provides Ohioans with the most accessible and affordable point of entry for pursuing a two-year or beginning a four-year degree and the most convenient and relevant workforce development options for new and experienced workers. In providing quality worker training and retraining opportunities, community and technical colleges also work to remove barriers that limit business growth and create new jobs.
Success stories
Ohio's two-year college success stories speak for themselves. The sector delivered more than 7 million non-credit job training hours to Ohioans, helping more than 166,000 workers. It also served more than 4,200 Ohio companies of all sizes. But the most telling achievement is that Ohio's community and technical college sector has experienced the largest growth in enrollment over the last six years. From 1998 to 2004, enrollment at these campuses increased by a whopping 25 percent. And the number of associate degrees awarded increased by 8 percent.
We expect that these numbers will continue to rise, as Ohio aggressively works to ensure that course work completed at a two-year campus fully transfers to a four-year campus. These statistics are significant, especially if Ohio is to meet our goal of increasing overall college enrollment by 30 percent over the next 10 years. Clearly, two-year campuses are a key part of Ohio's overall economic development strategy.
Our community colleges have been our secret weapon in the battle for good jobs and prosperity in the 21st Century. When students graduate, they are getting good jobs and often earn more than the graduates of four-year colleges.
I commend Dr. Betty for taking a stand against outdated attitudes toward community and technical colleges. Her Lessons for Leno tour re-emphasizes what we have long known -- that community colleges play an essential role in helping our citizens achieve their personal goals and helping the state achieve our goal of prosperity and quality of life for all Ohioans. I hope that Mr. Leno will take this opportunity to learn from Dr. Betty's message that higher education is no laughing matter.
X Bob Taft is governor of Ohio.