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Community colleges are available in nearly every city across the United States, helping high school graduates and professional adults alike get the training and education they need to succeed in their chosen careers. A key component in a quality education from a community college is the school's accreditation, which ensures other schools and professional industries will recognize the degree and education received. However, not all community colleges successfully keep their accreditation status intact, leaving students and faculty scrambling to legitimize the education process without this important stamp of approval.

What is Accreditation?

According to the Maryland Higher Education Commission, accreditation is "a voluntary process of self-regulation and peer review adopted by the educational community." This means that educational institutions have agreed to evaluate one another to determine whether each has successfully achieved their stated educational goals.

When a school is accredited, it has been proven to provide a quality of education recognized by the community. Accredited schools are better recognized for their coursework and credits earned, and students who attend these institutions are more likely to be able to receive financial aid or transfer credits to another college or university.

It is important to note that while there are a number of different types of accreditation available to colleges today, the only legitimate accreditation organizations are recognized by the United States Department of Education. Not all colleges that are approved by their states are accredited as well. Prospective students should always

During the current economic slowdown, more adults are heading back to community college to get the necessary retraining for more lucrative careers. High school graduates that cannot afford a four-year university right away are looking at community colleges as a less expensive route to the education they need. It sounds like community colleges are the perfect answer, right?

Unfortunately, community colleges are not the white knight that many struggling in a sluggish economy would hope. These institutions are facing diminishing financing themselves, at a time when enrollment demand for a community college education is at an all time high. Many community colleges across the country are facing the inconceivable reality of turning students away at the door because there is simply no more room in the classes to accommodate them. One of the states that has been hit hardest with the community college overload is California – and it doesn't look like there is any relief in sight.

Long Wait Lists and Less Support Available

According to a recent report at the Los Angeles Times, more than 140,000 students were turned away from community colleges in California during the last academic year. This year, the number of students who can't get into classes is predicted to be double. At Cypress College, around 6,200 students were on wait lists for courses last year, with 13,000 more waiting at Bakersfield College and as many as 80,000 in the Los Rios

Dr. Maria Montessori, founder of the Montessori education model, believed that the first three years of a child's life are critical to emotional and mental development. Until recently, those who were responsible for caring for and educating these youngsters were primarily untrained and underpaid. Fortunately, the tide appears to change in training early childhood educators, and community colleges are at the forefront of the new trend. We will examine how early training impacts children and what community colleges are doing to raise a new generation of early childhood educators equipped to answer the call.

The Importance of Early Childhood Education

According to a report in Community College Week, more research continues to surface regarding the importance of the years from birth to age three. A child's brain begins connecting to his outer world during this developmental time. This age group has been historically dubbed the future of our nation. Yet, the educational system rarely invests the time, effort, and money to educate this demographic as effectively as possible. In fact, those at the front of the public education movement often regard early childhood education as an afterthought – after the more important issues like school choice, student performance, and educational standards.

A report by the New American Foundation called attention to our young's educational plight in a CCW report that stated pre-kindergarten education has "long been the poor stepchild of the education system, with fewer resources, spotty quality standards, and limited attention to children's learning outcomes. To

Community college enrollment is gaining steam across the country, thanks in part to the current administration's focus on these educational institutions. However, some community colleges are growing faster than others due to the programs they offer and other significant factors. We will look at some of the hotbeds of community college enrollment growth and the key factors impacting the sudden popularity of these institutions.

Reasons for Growth

There are many reasons why community college enrollment continues to grow at an astronomical pace around the country. According to a report in Community College Week, the biggest reason for the growth is the Great Recession of 2007, which put many adults in this country out of work and sent them back to school to get training in a more lucrative profession. It is no secret that an economic slowdown can increase college enrollment. However, the current economic conditions, due to the degree and longevity of the problems, have strained community colleges past the point of being able to adequately serve all the students coming to them for an education.

The Obama Administration has also played a role in the increase in community college student bodies. President Obama has called on this country to produce another five million college graduates by 2020 in response to news that the United States has fallen to 10^th among industrialized nations in terms of educational attainment. Colleges have been scrambling to answer the call as federal funding has come