President Barack Obama announced Monday his “Skills for America’s Future” initiative, aimed at increasing cohesion between community colleges and industry partners, at a meeting of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
The initiative will use $2 billion over four years pulled from the controversial Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act that dominated headlines earlier this year. The plan will create private partnerships and training programs in community colleges nationwide.
“Unfortunately, because of the burden the recession has placed on state and local budgets, community colleges have been forced to cap enrollments and scrap courses,” Obama said, according to a news release. “Not only is that not right — I think it’s not smart.”
Obama also announced several large corporations that would be participating in the program, including McDonald’s, Gap Inc., Accenture and United Technologies.
The program will also encourage development of online courses.
The new initiative is part of Obama’s goal of 5 million more community college graduates and certificates by 2020.
The president also publicized the White House Summit on Community Colleges, which will be hosted today by Second Lady Jill Biden. Biden has worked in community colleges for 17 years.
That meeting will bring together community college leaders from across the country to discuss challenges facing the industry.
“We need to be doing more, not less, to equip our workers with the skills and training they need in the 21st century,” Obama said.  “It’s an economic imperative.”   
Online courses and partnerships with community colleges have made news on the University’s campus recently. Chancellor Michael Martin has emphasized those initiatives as ways to save costs and increase enrollment during recent budget cuts.
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Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]