New Community College Programs Fueled by Stimulus Funds

While Goldman Sachs has found itself in plenty of hot investigative water recently, the investment bank has also contributed significantly to the development of small businesses via community colleges. Last year, Goldman Sachs announced the launch of 10,000 Small Business, a multi-million dollar initiative geared toward the creation and growth of small businesses across the country.

An Associated Press report published on Diverse Issues in Higher Education last November stated that Goldman Sachs is teaming up with billionaire Warren Buffett to provide $5 million to support small business owners in a variety of ways. Of that amount, $3 million will go to increasing opportunities for financial capital, while $2 million will be earmarked for education and training. The advisory council for the 10,000 Small Businesses initiative will be co-chaired by Buffett, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter.

This video explains how Metropolitan Community College is partnering with local businesses to help fill the job vacancies.

Overcoming Obstacles

According to the Goldman Sachs website, Goldman Sachs is partnering with Warren Buffett, the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and Community College Associations to provide for three factors that have been identified as the primary barriers to the growth of small business in the United States:

• Access to Financial Capital – Goldman Sachs will invest $300 million in a combination of lending and donations to Community

Transitioning from a high school environment to a college campus is never easy, but for some students, the change is quite nearly impossible. The difficulties faced can be due to a number of factors. According to a report by Gulf Coast Community College, the reasons that students leave college include having academic difficulties, too many family or job-related responsibilities, not enough money to pay for college related-expenses and a lack of personal motivation to continue with their studies. Additionally, students whose parents did not attend college, and students who have a learning or emotional disability also face challenges as they attempt to get a college education.

However, these at-risk students can successfully obtain a degree. Community colleges across the country have special programs that seek to help at-risk students stay in school. As mentioned in the Gulf Coast Community College report, providing academic guidance services, transition programs for high school students, and targeted interventions for specific at-risk populations are among the most effective interventions colleges can use. Northern Virginia Community College, more commonly known as NOVA, has instituted an innovative program to help non-traditional and at-risk students achieve academic success and even go on to earn a four-year degree. NOVA’s program can serve as a model for what other colleges can and should do to help at-risk students.

This video explains what an at-risk student is.

The Importance of Community

Many community college students today understand all too well the frustration of trying to put together a schedule each semester but finding themselves on waiting lists. The overload leaves numerous students requiring more time to complete their degrees – and postpones their opportunities in the professional, post-academic world.

One community college has come up with what they believe is a solution to this collegiate quandary.

What if you could skip to the front of waiting lists, just by paying more? Students at Bristol Community College in Massachusetts will now have the chance to register for an academic "fast track" that will allow them to graduate faster – for an increased tuition rate, according to reports by The Boston Globe and USA Today.

This video reports on the healthcare program at Bristol Community College.

A Proposal by the Princeton Review

The idea comes from the Princeton Review, a company that had previously been primarily involved in assessments and standardized test preparation. Since the acquisition of Penn Foster, a career training provider, a few months ago, the Princeton Review has jumped into the world of continuing education. Like a few other for-profit colleges, Princeton Review is currently in the process of teaming up with community colleges that offer allied healthcare degrees to provide faster access to degrees. These programs will come at a higher price tag than standard programs

The tide has turned in federal financial aid – and students will be the benefactors. The newly minted U.S. Department of Education’s Direct Loan Program will now administer federal financial aid, cutting out the middlemen banks that once profited from doling out these funds to students.

Amidst all of the changes, “student loans are in transition, and those who use them need to pay particular attention right now as the U.S. Department of Education's Direct Loan Program takes responsibility for lending,” The Daily Press sagely advises.

Make sure that you are taking the right steps to apply for and manage your community college financial aid, using this article as your guide.

Financial Aid & the Federal Government: Overview of New Legislation

According to the New York Times, President Obama recently passed legislation that allows the Department of Education to directly provide students with financial aid loans. This new law eliminates any fees paid to private banks, as banks will no longer serve as intermediary parties between students and their access to college loans. Without banks acting as middlemen, an estimated $6 to $7 billion dollars of federal money will be saved annually, benefiting the government, taxpayers, and students, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

As outlined by the legislation, as of July 2014, students set to borrow money for college will be permitted to, “cap repayments at 10 percent of income above a basic living allowance,