Social media is one of seven levers of change that the Obama Administration will use to reform the education system. U.S. Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter and her team will employ these levers to enable five million community college students to earn a certificate, a degree or transfer by the year 2020.

Legislation allowing students more access to a college education, in addition to $2 billion that was allocated by the Healthcare Reconciliation Act to give to students in direct loans and to community colleges to innovate education completion and prepare students for going into the workforce are also levers of change, Kanter said. 

Two other tools for revamping the post-secondary education system are making it easier for students and their families to get into the Free Application for Student Financial Aid program if they qualify, and making all plans and improvements to the system transparent, Kanter said.

In order to improve the system, Kanter and her team are planning a series of summits around the country to listen to feedback from multiple stake holders such as students, faculty, the community at large, unions, business and industry, the high-tech community of the Silicon Valley, and members of the marginalized community. 

“We want people to know that the administration cares about all the sectors of higher education … and we want to make community colleges more prominent in higher education,” she said. “In my 40 years in education, all you generally hear about are the research universities, and there is a wider audience of institutions that serve students for the same goal, which is a commitment to education and really helping students reach the highest goals that they can. “

Kanter was President of De Anza College for 10 years, chancellor of the Foothill-De Anza District for six years and was selected to be part of President Obama’s Education administration. Kanter’s experience working for De Anza and the FHDA District has helped her adjust to her new position, because the FHDA District is a microcosm of what the community and the global society are all about, Kanter said. 

“Our experience in the FHDA district has been very helpful, Martha and I are often the only people in senior government meetings who have direct experience as higher education officials,” Senior Advisor to the Undersecretary of Education Hal Plotkin said.  “We are often called on to offer practical advice based on our experience.”

One of the impacts of Kanter’s administrations work is “a 20 percent increase in applications for financial aid from students from low-income communities and families,” Kanter said. “We cut out many questions on the student federal aid application, getting rid of information we weren’t using. It’s all about doing more with what you have. Getting rid of the bureaucracies and stream-lining the application process so it is easier for families to complete the application to get federal aid for college. The other major impact Kanter’s work has done is bring community college’s front and center in the public eye. 

Kanter would like to improve the system by “fixing remediation, to help more students achieve college level competency. We have a revolving door of remediation, and we have to look at new intensive models for students, we should continue to innovate and adopt what works best.” The biggest goal, however, “should be college completion, finding ways to help students persist and get their degrees and transfer to university and that would be the biggest one to meet the 2020 goal that President Obama has set before us.”

“The way community colleges are understood to be important are for job training, and technical experience, but the stuff that falls off of the table are preparing students to transfer to four-year institutions, and preparing them for the available jobs,” De Anza College President Brian Murphy said.”Over 50 percent of graduates of the nation’s state universities transfer from community colleges, the U.S. wouldn’t have its current level of graduates without community colleges.”

“Community colleges provide a bread and butter education for Americans that are essential to democratic people, the more educated you are, the better you vote. Democratic dialogue is based on this education and thought,” Murphy said. 

As money is invested in education, “community colleges are justifiably at the center of discourse about education,” Plotkin said.

In regards to the segment where Late Night Comedian Jay Leno made fun of her height Kanter said, “I thought it was hilarious, when I went on to the summit, I knew they were not going to be able to see me over the podium, I decided to just stand on my tiptoes and give my groups summary and move on.”  It was funny, “I took it in stride. My plan is the next time I have to give a speech at the end of a Whitehouse summit I am going to wear heels and a beehive.”