Development of Vocational Education in the Community College Curriculum

Abstract

Today higher education in America accepts a dual purpose: to meet the needs of students and to meet the needs of America for educated citizens and workers.1 The community college, as an institution of higher education, accepts this challenge, for it provides comprehensive programs designed to meet the needs of students and society. Programs ranging from college transfer and vocational education to continuing education and community service have made the community college one of the fastest growing institutions in America. Within the past few years, and especially since the Vocational Education Act of 1963, educators have examined the vocational education programs in the public junior colleges. Although they recognize and stress the importance of such programs, these men also express concern over the apparent lack of enough programs to prepare students for occupational demands in the labor market. Perhaps this problem stems from the original function of the junior college-- to provide a two-year liberal arts curriculum resulting in one's transfer to a four-year institution-- which overshadowed the vocational education function. However, for the past hundred years, factors such as population increase, the demands for post-secondary education by trade and industry, and federal legislation have been influencing the adoption of vocational education programs by junior colleges. In fact, this writer found that both the community college and vocational education depend on and need each other to fulfill America's dual philosophy of higher education. While the community college has made vocational education as aspect of higher education, vocational education has made the community college more comprehensive and thereby provide more opportunities to prepare individuals to meet increasing employment demands.