As Bankruptcy from Student Loans Rise, Community Colleges Seen
as Low Cost Alternative  A brief released today by the American
Association of Community Colleges affirms that community
colleges are a primary gateway to higher education for nearly
half of low-income and minority students. The report, called Why
Access Matters, shows the importance of community colleges
maintaining this role.  The report finds that community colleges
"provide access to nearly half of all minority undergraduate
students and more than 40 percent of undergraduate students
living in poverty.”   A few days ago the The Century Foundation
announced the creation of a taskforce that will come up with
recommendations to make community colleges more mixed income.
 Dubbed the "Task Force on Preventing Community Colleges from
Becoming Separate and Unequal," the group will include
representatives from two-year and four-year schools, scholars of
higher education, and members of the business, philanthropic,
and civil rights communities.  One of