Establishing a Real-World Credential
Community College of the Air Force to award 300,000th associate degree.
By David Pluviose
With 342,000 students enrolled in 102 Air Force-affiliated schools, the Community College of the Air Force is the world’s largest two-year higher education institution. Headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, CCAF was founded in 1972 as a means of establishing a real-world credential for training given to enlisted personnel — an associate of applied science degree. CCAF remains the only regionally accredited two-year institution in the U.S. armed services, and the college will be celebrating the awarding of its 300,000th associate degree this fall. Last year, the college conferred 16,771 such degrees.
Community colleges nationwide have been scrambling to cover gaping budget shortfalls as state and local government appropriations continue to dwindle. Col. Thomas D. Klincar, CCAF’s commandant and the first minority to lead the college, attended a session at this year’s American Association of Community Colleges conference that addressed some innovative ways community colleges are working to make ends meet.
For example, several community colleges are pooling resources to form state centers of excellence in order to participate in expensive new DNA research. Klincar, however, thanks “generous taxpayers” for allowing CCAF to stay on the cutting edge for more than 30 years.
