1. Affordable Local Education
COLLEGE SHOULD BE AFFORDABLE AND CLOSE TO HOME.
Maricopa Community Colleges were built to give students an affordable path to a better future right in their own communities. Protecting that promise starts with fiscal responsibility.
With a $1.7 billion annual budget, every dollar must be managed carefully so tuition stays low, essential programs remain strong, and students can access a quality education close to where they live and work.
Our team brings the diverse expertise needed to make that happen: John Crow, a CEO who understands budgets, efficiency, and accountability; Ryan Caracciolo, a marketing expert who knows how to compete for and attract students and grow enrollment; and Susan Winder, a 35-year educator and administrator who understands what belongs in the classroom and what students need to succeed.
Together, we can control costs, grow enrollment, and strengthen the quality and marketability of education — Fiscal responsibility isn’t just about balancing a budget — it’s about keeping college within reach for every family.
2. Train Arizona's Healthcare Professionals
ARIZONA NEEDS HEALTHCARE WORKERS — LET'S TRAIN THEM HERE.
Arizona is facing an enormous and growing demand for healthcare professionals. Our state is projected to have nearly 4,800 openings for registered nurses every year, more than 3,600 annual openings for medical assistants, and nearly 15,000 annual openings for home health and personal care aides. Respiratory therapy jobs are projected to grow 28%, while Arizona is also experiencing critical shortages in behavioral health and primary care.
Maricopa Community Colleges should aggressively expand training for the healthcare careers Arizona needs most — and provide a pathway for students at every level.
That means more four-year degree opportunities in fields such as nursing; two-year degrees for registered nurses, respiratory therapists, radiologic and imaging technologists, physical therapist assistants, and other high-demand allied-health careers; and short-term certificates and specialized training for medical assistants, nursing assistants, phlebotomists, surgical technologists, pharmacy technicians, and other frontline healthcare positions.
We should work directly with Arizona's hospitals, healthcare systems, and employers to identify the positions they cannot fill and rapidly expand the programs that prepare students for those jobs.
If Arizona needs the workers, Maricopa Community Colleges should be training them.
3. Build the Workforce That Builds Arizona
THE JOBS ARE ALREADY COMING — LET'S MAKE SURE ARIZONANS ARE TRAINED TO FILL THEM.
Maricopa County is experiencing an extraordinary construction and advanced-manufacturing boom. TSMC is undertaking one of the largest private investments in American history in North Phoenix. Amkor is building a $7 billion semiconductor facility in Peoria. VAI Resort is constructing what will become Arizona's largest resort in Glendale. Across the Valley, new semiconductor facilities, data centers, hospitals, roads, housing and advanced-manufacturing projects are creating tremendous demand for skilled workers.
The State of Arizona estimates that more than 20,000 new construction and trades jobs need to be filled by 2030. These projects require electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, welders, heavy-equipment operators, construction technicians, industrial maintenance specialists, machinists and increasingly sophisticated semiconductor and advanced-manufacturing technicians.
Maricopa Community Colleges should be the premier training ground for this workforce. We need to expand two-year degrees, industry certifications, apprenticeships and accelerated specialized training developed in direct partnership with the companies and contractors doing the hiring.
Not every successful career requires four years at a university. Many of these careers provide outstanding wages and opportunities for advancement with two years — or even months — of specialized education and hands-on training.
Billions of dollars are being invested right here in Maricopa County. We need to make sure the jobs and opportunities that come with that investment are going to people who live here.
4. Bring Back JUCO Football
FOR MOST JUCO MEN, FOOTBALL ISN'T JUST A SPORT — IT'S THEIR PATH TO COLLEGE, A TRADE, A CAREER AND EVEN A FAMILY.
When Maricopa Community Colleges eliminated football after the 2018 season, we didn't just lose four football teams. We eliminated an opportunity that was bringing hundreds of young men onto our college campuses — including many who may never have pursued higher education without football.
And the decline since then should concern us. Enrollment has fallen across Arizona's community colleges, but Black male enrollment has been hit especially hard. Our analysis of federal enrollment data shows an average decline of more than 31% in Black male enrollment across Arizona community colleges since the football programs were eliminated. When we are losing young men from higher education at that rate, eliminating a proven reason for hundreds of them to walk onto a college campus requires an immediate course correction!
Football also teaches things that cannot always be learned in a classroom. National research shows that more than 90% of college athletes say athletics strengthened their work ethic, responsibility and teamwork, while more than 80% credit athletics with developing leadership, goal-setting, time management, adaptability and the ability to perform under pressure.
Those lessons matter. Discipline. Teamwork. Perseverance. Tenacity. Accountability. A good football program surrounds young men with coaches, teammates, academic expectations and a structure that demands they show up — for practice, for class and for each other. It can create a sense of belonging and give a young man who never pictured himself as a college student a reason to become one.
And football doesn't just build players. It builds community. For generations, Friday night and Saturday football has brought students, parents, alumni and neighbors together around their local schools. Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix and Scottsdale Community Colleges once had football traditions that communities could rally around. Glendale's program alone dated to 1967 and won three national championships before being eliminated.
We believe it is time to bring that opportunity back — responsibly, sustainably and with strong academic accountability.
Bring back JUCO football. Bring young men back to our campuses. Give them a team, a purpose and a pathway to a better future.