SEATTLE – At Spokane Community College, President Jenni Martin is preparing for a $7 million budget reduction over the next six years. A three-hour drive southwest, Chad Hickox, the leader of Walla Walla Community College, is bracing for his own $3 million cut.

It’s a tall order amid a precarious time for higher education: The Trump administration is cutting federal grants and state dollars are tightening. And while enrollment in community colleges has rebounded since the pandemic began, it remains behind 2019 numbers.

Thousands rely on community college as a transition to the rest of their careers: They are the first stop for teenagers on their way to university, or adults who want to switch careers to vital fields like nursing and dentistry. And even in the best of times, they are noto

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