Obama's Community College Initiative

About 1 million Americans graduate from community colleges each year. President Obama, in a speech at Macomb Community College in suburban Detroit yesterday, announced a $12 billion initiative to help community colleges expand and reach more students.

Obam's plan includes:

• $2.5 billion for construction and renovation
  
• $500 million to develop new online courses
  
• $9 billion for "challenge grants" aimed at spurring innovation

The Post's article about the initiative says that community colleges, like many institutions, are struggling with significant budget cuts and that leaders are enthusiastic that the federal funds will enable them to address some of those cuts. It also points out, however, that there are questions about whether the funds will be available for hiring new faculty.

253. What's the budget situation at PVCC currently? Have they had to cut any programs or teaching positions? What percentage of PVCC's funding (if any) comes from the state or federal governments?