- AACC visits Office of the Vice President
- Gauging insights into noncredit programs
- Areas of job growth in January
AACC visits Office of the Vice President
Officials from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) this week visited the White House’s Eisenhower Executive Office Building for a meeting with the Office of the Vice President.
AACC provided a high-level overview of community colleges’ history, evolution and unique role within the higher education landscape. The conversation emphasized community colleges’ low cost and value proposition, as well as their strong connections to workforce and industry partners.
Gauging insights into noncredit programs
A new initiative aims to capture the experiences and perspectives of community college students enrolled in noncredit workforce programs and also tap into the insights of staff and faculty involved in those programs.
The Education and Employment Research Center at Rutgers University (EERC) and the National Council for Workforce Education (NCWE) — partners on the Student Voices Informing Practice in Noncredit Workforce Education — have announced the 15 colleges selected for the initiative.
The goal is to help community colleges advance and strengthen their noncredit workforce programs, services and policies, according to EERC and NCWE.
The selected colleges are:
• Bishop State Community College (Alabama)
• College of Lake County (Illinois)
• Community College of Baltimore County (Maryland)
• Cuyahoga Community College (Ohio)
• Doña Ana Community College (New Mexico)
• Glen Oaks Community College (Michigan)
• Johnson County Community College (Kansas)
• Norco College (California)
• Northeast Community College (Nebraska)
• Northwest College (Wyoming)
• Nunez Community College/Louisiana Community and Technical College System
• Pearl River Community College (Mississippi)
• South Texas College
• Spokane Colleges (Washington)
• Wor-Wic Community College (Maryland)
EERC and NCWE, and affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges, said an important focus of the collaborative initiative is to connect research to practice, to ensure the perspectives of noncredit students and the expertise of college practitioners drive changes to improve programs and policies, learner outcomes and Workforce Pell implementation at campuses across the country.
Areas of job growth in January
Job gains in January occurred in healthcare, social assistance and construction, while federal government and financial activities lost jobs, according to the latest job report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Healthcare added 82,000 jobs last month, with gains in ambulatory healthcare services (+50,000), hospitals (+18,000), and nursing and residential care facilities (+13,000), the report says. Job growth in healthcare averaged 33,000 per month in 2025.
Employment in social assistance increased by 42,000 in January, primarily in individual and family services (+38,000). Construction added 33,000 jobs last month, reflecting an employment gain in nonresidential specialty trade contractors (+25,000), BLS said. Employment in construction was essentially flat in 2025.
Federal government employment continued to decline (-34,000) last month, while financial activities employment declined by 22,000. BLS reported that employment showed little change over the month in other major industries, including manufacturing, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, information, leisure and hospitality, and other services.