"For a long time, the importance of community colleges was overlooked in Washington, DC. Politicians would talk about America's higher education system only in terms of four-year colleges and universities. Those days are over. Today, the largest percentage of students receiving federal Pell Grant aid are community college students." "At stake is nothing short of America's ability to compete in the 21st century. Last month, I announced my plans to address the issues of accessibility, affordability, and accountability raised by the commission." "We must increase need-based aid. We've worked with Congress to strengthen financial aid, and we've made progress. This includes making available four and a half billion dollars in scholarships for low-income students who take challenging courses in high school and study fields such as math and science."

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Orlando, Fla. — U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today delivered remarks at the Association of Community Colleges Trustees' 2006 College Leadership Congress General Session Luncheon in Orlando, Fla. Following are her prepared remarks:

Thank you, Ken, for that kind introduction, and I want to thank Noah Brown for inviting me today.

Let me also thank Congressman Bilirakis and Congressman Feeney for being here today. They've both been strong supporters of education reform and expanding opportunity for all Americans.

I'm honored to be here at the annual congress of the Association of Community College Trustees. Back in Texas, I used to work at Austin Community College. I was in charge of helping customize job training around local workforce needs. And I saw firsthand how community colleges bob and weave to respond to the needs of a changing economy and prepare students for new opportunities and better jobs. Austin Community College has a saying: "Start Here. Get There."

And that's exactly what community colleges do for millions of Americans of all ages and backgrounds every year. They set them on the road to promising new careers and further education. And in today's global economy, that mission is more important than ever.

Next month, I'll be leading a delegation of university presidents to Asia to discuss the common challenges we face. And I'm proud to announce that two community college presidents will be traveling with me—Jim Owen from Piedmont Community College in North Carolina and Stephen Curtis, who is here today, from the Community College of Philadelphia.

My assistant secretary for vocational and adult education, Troy Justesen, is also here with me today. As a community college graduate, he knows what a treasure your schools are. We're working together to appoint a new deputy assistant secretary to serve as my department's liaison to community colleges.

For a long time, the importance of community colleges was overlooked in Washington, DC. Politicians would talk about America's higher education system only in terms of four-year colleges and universities. Those days are over. Today, the largest percentage of students receiving federal Pell Grant aid are community college students. And President Bush and I believe you can't have a serious conversation about higher education without discussing the 11 million Americans attending community colleges every year.

So when I formed my bipartisan commission on the future of higher education last year, I made sure community colleges were well represented. I want to thank Montgomery College President Charlene Nunley for serving on the commission and for all her leadership.

Some of America's best and brightest came together across many sectors to launch a national dialogue on the accessibility, affordability, and accountability of higher education. To start, they looked at our higher education system as a whole—every form of education available after high school, from online professional training to community and technical colleges to four-year universities to graduate and professional programs.

This system has long been one of the undeniable strengths of our nation. In quality, diversity, and character, it's the envy of the world.

But times have changed, and we can't rest on our laurels. Where we once were leaders, now other nations educate more of their young adults to more advanced levels than we do.

Meanwhile, higher education is more important than ever. Ninety percent of the fastest-growing jobs require postsecondary education. But more than 60 percent of Americans have no postsecondary credentials at all.

As a result, the commission found that more and more adults are heading back to school. And to keep America competitive, we must ensure we have a higher education system that can meet this increasing demand.

I'm not the first to grapple with these issues. Community colleges have been on the frontlines of this work for a long time. Your schools are constantly adapting to meet new challenges and to make the dream of college come true for more Americans. And you deserve our help and support.

At stake is nothing short of America's ability to compete in the 21st century. Last month, I announced my plans to address the issues of accessibility, affordability, and accountability raised by the commission.

First: How do we make college more accessible? There are far too many Americans who want to go to college but can't—either because they're not prepared or can't afford it. To expand access to higher education, we must better prepare our students—starting with high standards and accountability in our public schools.

These principles are the pillars of No Child Left Behind. We've made great progress in the early grades toward our goal of every child reading and doing math at grade level by 2014. But at the high school level, it's a different story.

A million kids drop out every year. And those who do graduate often aren't prepared for college. As a result, 40 percent of four-year college students and 63 percent of two-year college students end up taking remedial courses. By some estimates, community colleges alone spend $1.4 billion dollars every year on remedial education just to teach students the basic skills they should have learned in high school.

That's not fair to you, and it's not fair to our students. That's why President Bush proposed a plan to increase academic rigor in our high schools and prepare more students to succeed. Action One under my plan is to build on this by expanding the effective principles of No Child Left Behind and holding high schools accountable for results.

And we will continue efforts to align high school standards with college work by increasing access to college-prep classes such as Advanced Placement and encouraging more high school students to participate in dual enrollment programs at community colleges.

Students aren't the only ones who face barriers to access. As I said, more and more adults recognize they need higher education to compete in today's global economy, but many of them are missing the basic skills needed to enter postsecondary programs. One of the big problems is that adult literacy rates are down across the country. So I'm directing my department to work with experts in the field to identify proven strategies for improving adult literacy.

Next, how do we make college more affordable?

Community colleges have been leaders on this front. But over the last 25 years, college tuition for four-year schools has outpaced inflation, family income, even doubling the cost of health care. And as the commission noted, the entire financial aid system is in urgent need of reform. At the federal level, it's a maze of 60 websites, dozens of toll-free numbers, and 17 different programs.

The commission recommends that Congress scrap the system and start over with one that's more user-friendly and effective. So Action Two under my plan is for my department to streamline the process, cut the application time in half, and notify students of their aid eligibility earlier than spring of their senior year to help students and families plan.

The reality is no matter the costs—the wealthy can pay. But for low-income, mostly minority students, college is becoming more and more difficult to attain. Increases in state aid for low-income students have not kept pace with assistance for more affluent students. In a recent report card, 43 states were given an "F" for failing on affordability.

We must increase need-based aid. We've worked with Congress to strengthen financial aid, and we've made progress. This includes making available four and a half billion dollars in scholarships for low-income students who take challenging courses in high school and study fields such as math and science.

I look forward to teaming up with Congress again to improve the financial aid process and help the students who need it most. But more money isn't going to make a difference if states and institutions don't do their part to keep costs in line.

To tackle this issue, we must have more information about where the money is going and what we're getting in return. Which brings me to my final point—accountability and information.

In almost every area of our government, we expect transparency and accountability for our tax dollars. But over the years, we've basically invested tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer money in higher education and just hoped for the best. We deserve better.

At the U.S. Department of Education, we can tell you almost anything you want about first-time, full-time, degree-seeking, non-transfer students. But almost half of students today are nontraditional students, especially in your schools. They go to school part time, hold a job, and transfer several times before earning a degree.

We have no way of knowing what happens to these students as they move across the system. So while we know community colleges help many students transfer to four-year degree programs, your schools get none of the credit when these students go on to graduate.

For example, President Nunley told me that Montgomery College had nearly 4,000 students who had earned 12 credits or more transfer to four-year colleges. But under the current data collection system, those students are reported as dropouts from Montgomery College. What should be counted as a success story is instead recorded as an institutional failure!

And as a result, we don't have a clear picture of how the system really works today and what can be improved. That's why many of your colleges have supported the commission's call to improve the way we collect information. And I want to thank the American Association of Community Colleges for forming a new task force on accountability.

The absence of good information also means we can't answer basic questions students and families have during the college selection process. For example, what are the advantages of attending a community college? How long will it take me to get my degree? And how much will my education really cost?

When my daughter applied to college two years ago, I saw just how confusing and frustrating the process can be. I found it almost impossible to get the answers I needed. And I'm the Secretary of Education!

We live in the "Information Age." If you want to buy a new car, you go online and compare a full range of models, makes, and pricing options. And when you're done, you'll know everything from how well each car holds its value down to wheel size and number of cup-holders. The same transparency and ease should be the case when students and families shop for colleges.

That's why Action Three under my plan will work to pull together privacy-protected student-level data to create a higher education information system. Similar data is already collected for K through 12 students. The information would be closely protected. It would not identify individual students, nor be tied to personal information.

More than 40 states already have a system like this in place including Florida, which has the most comprehensive data warehouse in the country. But currently, every state is an island unto itself. That kind of localized system may work when you're dealing with kindergarten through 12th grade, but it's not helpful when it comes to college and you're trying to compare options: in-state versus out of state, public versus private, community college versus four-year.

We want to work with Congress, states, and your schools to build a system that's more useful and widely available to every student. Armed with this information, we can re-design my department's existing college search website called COOL and make it much more useful.

Better information will also help policymakers and college administrators do a better job managing the system and serving our most important clients—students. No current ranking system of colleges and universities directly measures the most critical point—student performance and learning. So Action Four under my plan will provide matching funds to colleges, universities, and states that collect and publicly report student-learning outcomes.

Right now, accreditation is the system we use to put the stamp of approval on higher education quality. As you know, it's largely focused on inputs, more on how many books are in a college library, than whether students can actually understand them. That must change.

Action Five under my plan will convene members of the accrediting community at the end of November to move toward a system that places greater emphasis on outcomes and student learning. More information on what students are learning will also help colleges and universities work together to make it easier for students to transfer course credit from one college to the next. In a world where 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs require postsecondary education, we can't afford to waste time and money paying for students to needlessly repeat courses and requirements.

To meet the challenges I've outlined today, we must cut through red tape and work together. The federal government can't do it alone. Just as the commission reflected a cross-section of higher education stakeholders, finding the right solutions will take a similar partnership. And we need your help and leadership. This spring, I'll convene a summit to discuss the full slate of recommendations, our progress, and specific responsibilities going forward, and I want you front and center.

This is the beginning of a process of long overdue change. And let me be clear: At the end of it, we neither envision, nor want, a national system of higher education. On the contrary, one of the greatest assets of our system is its diversity—something we must protect and preserve.

Community colleges have always been one of the most responsive forces in our higher education system. And I know you will continue to lead the way as we meet these new challenges. Our aim is simply to do what your colleges have been working to do for years and ensure higher education remains the path to the American dream.

Thank you.

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