Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner, President and CEO of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, is a guest contributor for the College Promise Campaign

I often tell my children that I have the best job on the planet. As President and CEO of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, I am in the business of creating opportunities for some of the nation’s hardest-working students by connecting them to life-changing scholarships and family-sustaining employment.

But throughout my 30-year career working in and around community colleges, I have learned that—while these schools are lauded for their affordability and for being champions of higher education access—they aren’t as equally recognized as quality institutions. They should be.

America relies more heavily on community colleges than it realizes. Last year, almost half of all four-year college graduates had some kind of community college coursework along the way—and that doesn’t include students who entered directly into the workforce: nurses, welders, and members of law enforcement, just to name a few. These students represent the core of our nation’s workforce.

It is my life’s work to make it known that community colleges are equal parts affordability, accessibility, and quality. This isn’t just my opinion. There’s so much research that points to the success of community college students and the quality of a community college education, but the real evidence can be seen in the stories of these five exceptional students. 

1. Michael Aguilar had lived in 16 different homes by the time he was 18 years old. In middle and high school, he was suspended 15 times. But Michael’s life completely changed when he enrolled in Lone Star College-CyFair in Texas. There, he found a new support system that provided him with a desire to excel academically and get involved in social change. He took part in an undergraduate research project, where more than 60 local community college students mentored 400 at-risk high school students at the same disciplinary school he had previously attended. Michael received the nation’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarship for community college transfers from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and is now pursuing a degree in statistics from Washington University. 

2. Amanda Karpinski started her education at Bergen Community College in New Jersey immediately following high school, receiving a full-tuition scholarship through the New Jersey Stars program. Her parents saw community college as an affordable way to jumpstart her college career. While at community college, Amanda excelled academically and rose to the highest levels of student leadership, becoming International President of Phi Theta Kappa. As a result, she received more than $26,700 in scholarships and is currently enrolled at Rutgers University. Amanda plans to attend law school, and she has extended her leadership to her community—she’s running for a seat on her borough’s council.

3. Haley Hughes is a first-generation college student. She’s already earned a degree in Outdoor and Power Sports Technology, and now she’s back at State Technical College of Missouri pursuing a degree in Electrical Power Generation. As a career-technical student, a community college was exactly what she needed to pursue her dreams of building and repairing high-performance personal watercraft at an affordable cost. Haley is a rising star in a historically male-dominated field—she placed first in Power Sports Technology at the National Skills USA Competition in 2017. Haley is the 2018 Coca-Cola Foundation Workforce Scholar, among 50 of the highest-achieving workforce students in the nation.

4. Obinna Muoh grew up in West Africa and worked for two years to save money to come to the United States and attend college. He chose Highland Community College in Kansas because it was the least expensive option, and he found his home away from home. Obinna is headed to Mississippi State University with $31,500 in scholarships to pursue a career as a chemical engineer. He is inspired to make things better—he wants to design new medicines and create a more efficient car battery. 

5. Angela Andrada, a student at Elgin Community College in Illinois, was one of 304 students nationwide selected to participate in the NASA Community College Aerospace Scholars Program. The 19-year-old spent five weeks training online and four days interacting with engineers and other experts at a NASA center, and she was even tapped to return and serve as a student assistant during the program’s on-site training at NASA’s Langley Research Center outside Washington, D.C. Angela is an advocate for closing the gender and racial gap in STEM fields and led a yearlong initiative encouraging students in low-income school districts to consider STEM careers..

The community college mission is as much about opportunity as it is about education. These schools provide affordable and quality pathways to transfer and employment that put a better life within reach. The problem is that, over time, the cost of higher education in this country has continued to skyrocket, putting the chance of a better life out of reach for many—and that’s not good for anyone.

It is up to us to find creative ways to combine local educational, philanthropic, and political interests in our communities in a way that increases access to affordable quality education for as many people as possible. For this reason, I am a proud advocate for making community college more accessible to students who may not otherwise be able to afford it, and this includes my strong support of College Promise programs, where states and communities are taking matters into their own hands by covering tuition and fees for students to attend community college.

I hope you’ll join me in supporting your local community college. Together, we can ensure these colleges and their students get the recognition they deserve.

To find out more about the College Promise Campaign or how to start a program in your community, log onto collegepromise.org.