WASHINGTON – Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper led senators in introducing The Community College Agriculture Advancement Act, a bipartisan bill focused on funding agriculture programs in community colleges.
The act, which is under consideration for inclusion with the 2023 Farm Bill, would amend the National Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 in authorizing community colleges to access grant money for agriculture programs in community colleges.
In doing so, close to 1,100 community colleges across the nation would be able to apply for money through a competitive U.S. Department of Agriculture grant program for the colleges’ agriculture programs.
As it stands, community college agriculture programs do not receive federal funding. Community colleges remain underfunded while serving some of the most disadvantaged communities. According to a study by the Community College Research Center, most higher education federal funding is funneled into financial aid and research grants, resulting in many community colleges receiving no federal grants.
“Despite strong funding for higher education agriculture programs, community colleges aren’t seeing their fair share,” Hickenlooper said in a news release. “This bill closes that gap to help community colleges train future farmers and build the agricultural workforce we need.”
The grants under the act would focus on supporting workforce education, research training and outreach activities. The bill also places its priority on institutions working directly with local agriculture operations to provide their students with experiential learning.
Additionally, the act includes accounting, financing and other farm business management-related subjects. This, according to Hickenlooper’s release, aims to make sure tools will be available for students “to build thriving businesses” in the agriculture industry.
Patty Erjavec, president of Pueblo Community College, said funding has been difficult to acquire in the past. The agriculture program at Pueblo Community College was established in 2021, and Erjavec said there has been sustained interest in the program.
“We know that agriculture is an important component. We know that other things like the health sector, behavioral health – that those careers and technical opportunities are so important. … With this additional funding, we're hopeful that we can just continue to do more.”
With the program grant, community colleges could also use the funding toward purchasing equipment and infrastructure, encourage collaboration between other community colleges and higher education institutions, advance the development of faculty and professional growth, and develop work-based learning opportunities such as apprenticeships.
The bill calls for the authorization of the program starting at $20 million, and identical legislative text was introduced to the House led by Reps. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., and Salud Carbajal, D-Calif.
“We have 13 colleges. Some of them are in metro areas like Denver, but a lot are in rural agricultural areas, and many offer a range of agricultural programs, degrees and certificates,” said Joe Garcia, chancellor of the Colorado Community College System. “There are a lot of farmers and ranchers out there now who might come back to college to take a course, for example, in the use of drone technology or something they haven't had the opportunity to learn before. We think we could attract adult students as well as traditional-age students who want to come and learn new technology.”
Mina Allen is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at mallen@durangoherald.com.
