President Obama Addresses White House Summit on Community Colleges

Today, President Obama, joined by Dr. Jill Biden, hosted the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges. The summit, attended by approximately 150 community college representatives, business leaders, students, philanthropists, as well as state and federal policy makers, highlighted the important role community colleges play in America's educational system.

President Obama called community college teachers the "unsung heroes of American education" by developing students for a 21st century economy. Obama described these future workers as "...one of the keys to the future of our economy."

White House Summit on Community Colleges: Developing a New Workforce

"We're in a fight for the future, a fight that depends on education," said President Obama.

President Obama outlined an ambitious goal of leading the world with the highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. Community colleges will be a central figure in achieving that goal, with President Obama wanting community colleges to graduate 5 million individuals by that time.

Hosted by educator Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, the summit was an opportunity to hold a dialogue on how community colleges can help meet the education and job training needs of a constantly evolving workforce and achieve President Obama's goals.

Dr. Biden referred to community colleges as "one of America's best kept secrets" that are able to open doors to economic success to Americans by helping them develop new skills.

"Community colleges are entering a new day in America," Dr. Biden continued, "For more and more people, community colleges are the way to the future. They're giving real opportunity to students who otherwise wouldn't have it. They're giving hope to families who thought the American dream was slipping away."

Video courtesy of WhiteHouse.gov.

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