A couple nights ago, “NBC Nightly News” ran a solid video segment on the growing importance of community colleges:

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Not much of a silver lining, but it would be nice if the recession permanently changed the place of community colleges in the American psyche.

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Jesse Singal is a former opinion writer for The Boston Globe and former web editor of the Washington Monthly. He is currently a master's student at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Policy. Follow him on Twitter at @jessesingal.