Spread the Word! It’s Community College Month
CNM is proud to be celebrating Community College Month – or #CCMonth – a national campaign to bring attention to the value and importance of CNM and our fellow community colleges across the country. Current and former students, faculty and staff, partners and supporters, and community members are encouraged to support the cause on their favorite social media platforms.
#CCMonth is a grassroots education and outreach campaign coordinated by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) every April. The primary goals are to improve awareness of the economic, academic, and employment advantages of attending community colleges. The campaign also challenges the public to reconsider common misconceptions of public two-year colleges.
“All of us at CNM know why community colleges are such a powerful force for good for students, communities, and economies,” CNM President Tracy Hartzler said. “We provide affordable, welcoming and high-quality education and workforce training programs that are easily accessible to learners from all walks of life. At CNM, we provide our learners with the knowledge and skills they need to secure life-changing careers that create positive ripple effects across their families and communities, while also supporting the workforce and economic development needs of New Mexico. So if you’re active on social media, or when you’re just out in the community, let’s remind people why community colleges are so important to the learners and communities we serve. Please join me in spreading the word about #CCMonth to your friends and connections!”
Across the United States, students who choose to attend a community college for the first two years of their higher-education careers will save an average of $35,000 to $50,000 on the cost of a bachelor's degree.
Public community colleges are a uniquely American educational model that was designed to guarantee access to affordable, high-quality higher education for all people, and connect them to high-quality jobs in their communities. They also serve as an onramp to bachelor’s, master’s and higher-level degrees for many students, and particularly for the most demographically and socioeconomically diverse students. Many community colleges, including CNM, also provide wraparound supports for students who need them, such as food, childcare and housing assistance. And without community colleges, many American students would not be able to access higher education at all due solely to financial limitations and other barriers.
In short, community colleges were created to serve the needs of their communities and local economies, and to help more people gain access to the American Dream through education and training programs.
Despite some ongoing stigma about community colleges, research from New America's annual Varying Degrees study and other sources has shown that the majority of American people hold community colleges in the highest regard among all higher education institutions with respect to being worth the cost of attendance, whether tax dollars should support them, and whether they spend their resources wisely and run efficiently. And according to a 2024 Gallup survey, just 18% of Americans have confidence in the value of a four-year degree. But 55% of Americans have confidence in the value of community college credentials. And, in a 2023 survey by local firm Research & Polling Inc., 69% of New Mexicans have a favorable view of community colleges and 63% have a favorable view of universities.
“Everywhere I go, I am told by current and former students that choosing to go to a community college is one of the best decisions they ever made,” said ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee. “The reality is that many students don't realize this until after they attend and realize what opportunities their community college gave them, and how much their instructors at the college cared about them. Our goal is to get the message through to students before they make one of the most consequential financial decisions of their lives: choosing a college or university.”
Each year's #CCMonth campaign has made millions of impressions across social media platforms, including X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok, and prominent supporters have included federal agencies, former U.S. First Ladies, current and former governors, and many others. This year, organizers are encouraging students and other to take the message to their favorite online social platforms to spread the word about the importance of community colleges in cultivating skills for the future, and the unique affordability that community colleges offer to financially challenged generations.