Tell Candidates

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.

Tell Candidates

Whether it’s during the primaries or the general election, campaign season is a great time to get a candidate to pay attention to your issue. In Pennsylvania, we need all candidates, from all parties and across the political spectrum, to know how important community colleges are to the economic well-being of our state.

Going to a debate or town hall meeting? Ask the candidates where they stand on supporting community colleges! We’ve prepared a few other questions you can ask to get a better understanding of their views on community colleges as well:

Given the economic crisis our state is still facing, can you speak to your views on affordable training and education for Pennsylvania’s workforce?
I’ve heard that even though over 400,000 students attend community college, only 4.4% of state grants go to community college students. If you were elected, how would you address that issue?
If you were elected, what measures would you take to ensure that workers in Pennsylvania got the training they need to compete in today’s job market?
There’s a gap of almost $3,000 between the cost of tuition at community schools and what the average family making $50k can afford to pay. What would you do to fix that?
Right now, 45% of community college students get some financial aid, but they need to go full time to qualify. How would you help part-time students who have to work as well as go to school?