PRESIDENT’S REPORT | March 2013
Community college grads outearn bachelor’s degree holders
The St. Charles Community College Student Veteran Organization received six military flags as a gift from Hal Berry, SCC professor of history and theater.
SCC history professor donates military flags SCC received six military flags as a gift from Hal Berry, SCC professor of history and theater. The new flags, representing the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, along with the POW/MIA flag, were first used during SCC’s November 2012 Veterans Day Celebration and currently are on display outside the college’s student veteran lounge in the Administration Building on campus. “The flags are an outstanding reminder of our service to our country,” said Angela Peacock, president of the SCC Student
Veteran Organization. “SCC has been very supportive of our veterans here, and I’m proud to pursue my education here.” Berry served in the U.S. Navy and has been teaching at SCC since the first classes began more than 25 years ago. He has more than 40 years experience as a teacher, a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and three master’s degrees in history, film and theater. To learn more about services for veterans on campus, the Student Veteran Organization and Honoring Military Families Scholarship at SCC, contact Tomi Schwandt at 636-9228268 or tschwandt@stchas.edu
Student Veteran Organization to hold Military Family and Community Expo The Student Veteran Organization will host the SVO Military Family and Community Expo from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, at SCC. The Expo will provide current service members, veterans and military families access to extensive and diverse resources and
support. Organizations with ties to the veterans community have been invited to have a table in the SSB auditorium to promote their services and provide materials. The event is free and open to the public. Enjoy booths, BBQ and fun activities for the entire family!
Berevan Omer graduated on a Friday in February with an associate’s degree from Nashville State Community College and started work the following Monday as a computer-networking engineer at a local television station, making about $50,000 a year. That’s 15 percent higher than the average starting salary for graduates – not only from community colleges, but for bachelor’s degree holders from four-year universities. Omer, who is 24, is one of many newly minted graduates of community colleges defying history and stereotypes by proving that a bachelor’s degree is not, as widely believed, the only ticket to a middle-class income. Nearly 30 percent of Americans with associate’s degrees now make more than those with bachelor’s degrees, according to Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce. Other recent research in several states shows that, on average, community college graduates right out of school make more than four-year graduates. The average wage for graduates of community colleges in Tennessee, for instance, is $38,948 – more than $1,300 higher than the average salaries for graduates of the state’s four-year institutions. “There is that perception that the bachelor’s degree is the default, and, quite frankly, before we started this work showing the value of a technical associate’s degree, I would have said that, too,” says Mark Schneider, vice president of the American Institutes for Research, which helped collect the earning numbers for some states. And while by mid-career, many bachelor’s degree recipients have caught up in earnings to community college grads, “the other factor that has to be taken into account is that getting a fouryear degree can be much more expensive than getting a two-year degree,” Schneider says. Read the whole story at www.hechingerreport.org.