Nearly half of students who attend U.S. colleges are enrolled in two-year institutions. Yet community colleges have not always been at the center of national debates about the future of education.

That may soon change, thanks to the National commission on Community Colleges, a panel composed of presidents and past presidents of leading community colleges. Convened by the College Board in February, the commission has spent the last eight months examining the critical role that community colleges play in American education. The 11-member commission met at Forum 2007 in New York to discuss its draft report, which will be published in January 2008.

"This is an important project for the College Board," said Stephen J. Handel, director of the National Office of Community College Initiatives. "It highlights the strengths of community colleges and identifies ways that the College Board can serve them," he added.

The commission's report is expected to make recommendations on how the influence of community colleges can be expanded to respond to the challenges facing the nation. A preview of the commission's work discussed at the Forum sought the insight of community college presidents from around the country who sit on the College Board's Community College Advisory Panel (CCAP). Ronald Williams, former chair of CCAP and the College Board's current Community College Initiatives vice president, stressed the importance of obtaining broad consensus regarding the commission's work. "The commission's final report will reflect the advice and counsel of community college leaders nationally,"he noted.

"If the United States is to achieve its goals, both in terms of quality and equality, community colleges must play a central role in the development and implementation of national educational solutions," said Augustine Gallego, chancellor emeritus of the San Diego Community College District, who serves as the chair of the Commission. "Through the commission's report, the College Board adds its strong and supportive voice to the critical work of America's community colleges that serve more than 11 million credit and noncredit students in close to 1,200 institutions across the country," he concluded.