The Seattle Colleges: Bedrock for a resilient community

Community college opens a door for all to many of tomorrow's most stable and essential jobs.

Why it's important: AI is rewriting the future of work, and many entry-level white-collar jobs are disappearing.

• Okay, but: The jobs that Seattle Colleges graduates step into — including nursing, carpentry, early childhood education, public health, electrical work and social services — are both harder to automate and critical to the city's future.

Why now: Seattle faces urgent needs — including for more housing, childcare options, health care providers and climate-ready infrastructure.

• Meeting those needs demands exactly the kind of practical, technical training offered at our city's three community colleges — North, Central and South.

Key numbers: 40% of the city's undergrads attend one of the three Seattle Colleges.

• 45% are students of color, 48% are first-gen college students and many are from low-income and LGBTQ+ communities.

The challenge: Even though most students work and full-time tuition is just $5,000 a year, many students at the Seattle Colleges struggle to afford their education.

• Seattle rents are 30% above the national average.
• Grocery prices are the fourth highest in the country, trailing only Honolulu, San Francisco and New York City.

Here's what else: State funding and philanthropic efforts only go so far in supporting community college students.

• Just 1.5% of higher education philanthropy benefits community colleges.

The solution: The Seattle Colleges Foundation is a non-profit, public 501(c)(3) organization that advances the educational mission of the Colleges.

• Giving to the Foundation supports students with scholarships, emergency needs grants, proven approaches to mentoring and advising and more.

• Plus, a growing number of Seattleites are also making ultra-high-impact gifts by including the Colleges in their estate planning.

The takeaway: Community colleges have never been more relevant amid rising education costs, AI disruption and acute community needs that fuel demand for high-quality, lower-cost, skills-based programs.

• The Wall Street Journal calls Gen Z the "toolbelt generation" — but many will need a boost to join it.

Get involved: Supporting Seattle Colleges financially, either with a here-and-now gift or a planned gift from your estate, is an investment in the diverse skills — and diverse people — who will help our city thrive amid change and challenges.

Learn more about how to make Seattle Colleges part of your estate plan.