Technology’s advances have been both rapid and comprehensive, eliminating the need for human beings to do many tasks. But the jobs that will emerge from this period of immense change are the ones that only humans can do.

This will create both challenges and tremendous opportunities for the colleges and universities that must help prepare these workers. Durable skills like problem solving and communication always have value, but at some moments in history that value is even more profound. This is one of those moments.

Communities across the United States are welcoming graduates who complete their baccalaureate degrees at their local community colleges. Programs are spreading, preparing graduates for well-paying jobs in business, health care, education, and technical fields. 

Seeing how CCB graduates live, work, and give back to their communities may inspire more states to invest in bachelor’s degrees that promote more inclusive economic prosperity for college graduates, says this report on the community college baccalaureate movement.

On May 17, 2021, after living in the United States as an undocumented immigrant for 21 years, Grecia Huesca Dominguez boarded a plane and moved to Querétaro, Mexico.  

In this essay, Huesca Dominguez describes her bittersweet journey of leaving the United States in search of a life that offered more certainty.