With in-person instruction suspended at California community colleges because of COVID-19, the biology major at College of San Mateo lost access to critical, hands-on laboratory experience necessary to transfer to a California State University campus this fall.
Thanks to dedicated faculty like Petersen’s biology professor, Christopher Smith, and community college staff throughout the state, the educational journeys of 2.1 million students may have been disrupted, but they don’t have to be interrupted.
But the resilience of community colleges and students like Petersen is on full display during the pandemic, as is the critical role that our 115 colleges continue to play in the response to the crisis and will play in the economic recovery that will follow.
Severe budget cuts to higher education at the time forced community colleges to turn away 500,000 students, allowing California to fall further behind in the production of college-educated workers and hindering economic recovery.
California needs to continue to invest in community colleges and students like Petersen, whose biology education may one day prove critical in confronting a future crisis faced by our state.
