Community colleges face some big challenges. For one thing, they have the same demographic problem that four-year colleges and universities do: fewer Americans in their age bracket. Also, market competition is offering young people who want vocational training a host of other options.

In today’s Martin Center article, Esam Sohail Mohammad looks at the future for community colleges.

He writes:

The stark fact remains that while the number of community colleges has remained largely unchanged in the last two decades, the demand for their services has tanked in most parts of the country. The reasons for this include an aversion in many young men toward college, non-collegiate actors stepping into the job-training workspace, and large public-sector employers removing the college degree as a basic requirement. One cannot blame taxpayers in community-college districts for asking sharp questions about the return-on-investment of their toil, treasure, and taxes.

So, how can community colleges remain viable? Mohammad has a number of good ideas for college administrators. These include ways they can reduce duplication and increase their focus on student retention, and a suggestion that they stop hiring faculty members simply because they have Ph.D.s and just find people who are good teachers.