Obama Announces Investment in Community Colleges: New Graduation Initiative Will Provide Opportunities for Education and Training for the 21st Century

Newswise — President Obama has announced the American Graduation Initiative, outlining a bold plan to strengthen our nation's nearly 1,200 community colleges and put America on track to having the highest college graduation rate of any nation in the world. Speaking recently at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, the President outlined his new community college initiative, acknowledging that America's economic strength depends on the education and skill of its workers.

Kevin Coyle, Vice President of Education and Training, said today:

"National Wildlife Federation with its 20 years of work in campus sustainability applauds the President's new initiative to invest in America's community college system, a critical delivery system for educating and training Americans for jobs in the emerging clean energy economy."

"The American Graduation Initiative provides a tremendous opportunity to invest in our country's economic recovery through education and training for green jobs at community colleges."

"Our clean energy economy will transform every profession and sector of the workforce, ranging from designing energy efficient buildings to manufacturing new components for solar panels and wind turbines to assessing how climate change will impact flood insurance, finance, and real estate."

"To ensure America's competitiveness in a global economy, we must prepare the next generation through curricula, training and programming that incorporates clean energy and sustainability."

National Wildlife Federation is America's largest conservation organization inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future. Through its Campus Ecology Program, the Federation has a 20-year history of work in improving the quality of American higher education with respect to environmental sustainability. More recently, NWF has joined forces with the American Association of Community Colleges such training organizations as Jobs for the Future to advance green job training at America's community colleges. Visit www.nwf.org for more information.