Sample Press Fill-in-the-Blank Press Release:
[Name and Contact Information]
[COLLEGE] JOINS #CCMONTH CAMPAIGN
TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THE COMMUNITY
IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
[CITY] [DATE] — [COLLEGE] announced today that it will join #CCMonth, a monthlong grassroots education and stigma-busting campaign coordinated by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). The primary goals of #CCmonth are to improve awareness of the economic, academic and equity advantages of attending community colleges, and to bust longtime stigmas wrongly associated with public two-year colleges.
“The past year has proved beyond any doubt that our college is vital to our community and our state,” [NAME, TITLE, COLLEGE] said. “#CCMonth is an opportunity to celebrate the importance and value of our college to our community and to demonstrate how we are cultivating skills for the future.”
Public community colleges are a uniquely American educational model that was designed to guarantee access to affordable, high-quality higher education for all people. They are the primary educators of life-saving nursing and other healthcare professionals among many others. They also serve as an onramp to bachelor’s, master’s and higher-level degrees for many students, and particularly for the most demographically and socioeconomically diverse students. They guarantee fair admissions for all students. They offer supports for adult students who have to work to support their families. And without community colleges, many American students would not be able to access higher education at all.
In short, community colleges were created to serve the needs of their communities, and they do it exceptionally well.
Despite some ongoing stigma about community colleges, research from New America's annual Varying Degrees study and other sources reveals that the majority of American people hold community colleges in the highest regard among all higher education institutions with respect to being worth the cost of attendance, whether tax dollars should support them, and whether they spend their resources wisely and run efficiently.
More Americans also believe community colleges are more underfunded than other institutions, and “a majority believe that students need career-related support (88%), financial aid (87%), and academic support (85%). They also strongly believe that colleges and universities must provide more, and favor the provision of housing (82%) and food (76%) support and on-campus child care (70%),” according to the survey report. Community colleges throughout the United States provide these services so that the most disadvantaged students will have a chance at succeeding in their higher education careers.
“The new-and-future economy is a skills-based economy,” said ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee. “The nation's community colleges always have specialized in providing practical education and skills that students can use to advance themselves in a competitive economy. They give opportunities to all students, and they support all students throughout their educations, whether they attend to attain an associate degree or certificate, intend to transfer on for a bachelor’s or higher degree, or they take one or a few courses to learn a new skill or expand their horizons.”
Each year's #CCMonth campaign made millions of impressions across social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and prominent supporters include the U.S. Departments of Education, Energy, Labor, and State; the U.S. Census Bureau; First Lady Jill Biden and former First Lady Michelle Obama; governors of Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey, and many others. This year, organizers are encouraging students and other to take the message to their favorite online social platforms to spread the word about the importance of community colleges in cultivating skills for the future, and the unique affordability that community colleges offer to financially challenged generations.
A #CCMonth campaign toolkit is housed on the ACCT website, acct.org, including a logo, sample op-eds and press releases, social media posts, board resolutions and additional information. ACCT’s Twitter account, @CCTrustees, will be sharing information from member colleges throughout the month to amplify awareness.
About [College]
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