U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will discuss President Barack Obama’s second-term agenda for higher education, specifically community colleges, when he addresses nearly 70 rural community college stakeholders, including 20 college presidents, on Wednesday, Feb. 13, in Washington, D.C. Secretary Duncan will meet with members of the Rural Community College Alliance (RCCA) and the Community Colleges of Appalachia (CCA) when they visit the Department at 10:30 a.m. ET, as a part of “Rural Community College Day.”
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Rural Outreach John White will open the meeting and introduce Duncan. Under Secretary Martha Kanter will provide brief remarks and Brenda Dann-Messier, assistant secretary for vocational and adult education, will discuss career and technical education and incarcerated education. RCCA is an advocacy group that helps to build the capacity of its community college members to improve educational and economic prospects in rural America. CCA is a voluntary association serving the common interests of community colleges and their communities in the Appalachian region through programs and services that are responsive to the unique cultural, geographic, and economic development challenges facing the region.