About The Commission

Sign Our Petition

Petition: Advance PA: Community Colleges Leading the Way

We are Pennsylvanians who want our state policymakers and candidates for public office to Advance PA through its support of our community colleges.

Pennsylvania needs its community colleges to educate and prepare students with skills for today’s jobs and a better state economy.

One out of every 5 Pennsylvania undergraduates attends a community college, with increasing enrollment as people seek education and new skills in today’s turbulent economic times. Tell your state leaders that students and faculty are doing their part to create success in the future, but we need more help!

We need to make our voices loud and clear to tell them that community colleges make education affordable for students who would otherwise miss out. One of the state’s wisest investments, community colleges contribute to the local economy by educating and preparing workers for state and local industries and businesses:

With the state budget in crisis and elections this year, it’s our moment to be heard. Without more support from state leaders, our community colleges will be forced to turn away Pennsylvanians who seek education and economic opportunity.

By signing this petition we ask our state leaders to Advance PA by making smart investments in our students, our workers and the state’s economic future.

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Once you sign our advocacy petition, you will receive periodic updates and communications from AdvancePA and the PA Commission for Community Colleges.

About the Commission

From the inception of community colleges in 1963 through the early 1970s, the community college presidents served as a Presidents Council under the Secretary of Education.

In the early 1970s, the presidents organized the Commission to give them a collective voice outside the Department of Education, especially regarding financing and operation. A few years later, the Commission became an affiliate of the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities (PACU).

Around the same time, the Pennsylvania Federation of Community College Trustees (PFCCT) was established to give those who govern the community colleges a voice in Harrisburg. The main purpose of both the Commission and the PFCCT was to advocate the collective needs of community colleges at the state level.

The organizations merged in 1994 to become the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges. The Commission continues to represent the collective interests of the colleges and the nearly 400,000 Pennsylvania residents who annually avail themselves of the educational and cultural opportunities provided by the 14 community colleges.