On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Tom Vander Ark is joined by Bob Schwartz to talk about pathways to opportunity and the role of college, specifically community colleges. Bob’s new book is America's Hidden Economic Engines: How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared Prosperity, which argues that community colleges need to be in the center of any national education and skills strategy.

“At their best, community colleges are the most nimble, flexible, market-oriented institutions in our higher education system, working closely with employers to meet regional labor market demands.”

Links:

• America’s Hidden Economic Engines: How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared Prosperity

• Review of America’s Hidden Economic Engines 

• Bob Schwartz Bio

• “Gold Standard: The Swiss Vocational Education and Training System”

• Gallup Poll

• Work-based learning GPS report

• Northeastern’s Co-Op Model