Sustaining Financial Support for Community Colleges

Sustaining fiscal support for community colleges has becoming increasingly difficult in an era marked by recurrent recessions, legislator reluctance to raise taxes, and intense competition for scarce resources from health care, K 12 education, and other pressing demands on state treasuries. After introductory chapters that provide historical, political, and economic perspectives on the fiscal environment in which community colleges operate, this volume describes institutional approaches to securing adequate funding in the face of fiscal uncertainty. Chapter authors provide guidelines for fund raising, leveraging corporate support through cooperative education programs, securing government grants for workforce development, managing mill levy elections for increased local tax support, and realigning budget priorities in the face of economic downturns. The volume also discusses the implications of today's changing fiscal environment for community college presidents and the skills they need to sustain adequate funding in the face of unpredictable revenue streams. This is the 132nd volume of the Jossey Bass quarterly report series "New Directions for Community Colleges".