Subject: In case you missed it - Dr. Jill Biden and Melinda Gates on NBC-Today Show (rough transcript)
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Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 09:57:40 -0400

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MATT LAUER: Back at 8:18. The Obama administration is focusing on higher education today, holding the first-ever White house summit on community colleges. And in a sign of support, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is pledging almost $35 million to community colleges in the next five years. Melinda Gates is with us now, along with Dr. Jill Biden ,the wife of the vice president. Ladies, good morning to both of you.

DR. JILL BIDEN: Good morning, Matt.

MELINDA GATES: Good morning, Matt.

LAUER: Nice to see you both. Dr. Biden, let me start with you. You've been in education for almost 30 years now, 17 of those years at a community college. And yet you call community colleges "America's best kept secret." Why are they such a good secret?

DR. BIDEN: They're a great secret, Matt. And I'm so excited about the summit today because people are going to learn about community colleges. You know, we partner with businesses, and that means we bring in companies who offer green technology or health care-related fields. And so what that means is that there will be jobs for Americans. And also, if you want to go to a four-year college, you can come to us for two years and then you can go right into the four-year college.

LAUER: Do you think, Dr. Biden, that community colleges in some ways have an image problem? I mean, I remember when I was back in high school, and you correct me if this has changed, people tended to look down at community colleges and say they were for people who couldn't get into college, didn't want to go to college or something else. Is it still a stigma?

DR. BIDEN: Well, I think that's why we're having this summit. We're trying to say to America, hey, we have changed, and look what we have to offer. We have a great education, so come and take a look at us. So I think things are changing.

LAUER: Mrs. Gates, let's talk about this grant money. Your foundation is dedicating some $35 million over five years to community colleges in states with a high proportion of low income families. So what are you goals?

MELINDA GATES: Well, that's right, Matt. So many students we have today, over 8 million students in community colleges. And these are students you don't often think of, non-traditional students. They are working students, they often hold down two jobs, they have a young child. So they're attending community colleges. And the idea is not to have just 25% of them today complete with some sort of certificate or degree, but to get so many more of them through the system; make it easier for them to complete community college to go on and get a job in the economy.

LAUER: Let me ask you both for a quick take on this one. Mark Zuckerburg, who's the founder and CEO of Facebook, recently pledged $100 million to the Newark school system. Is this the wave of the future in your opinion? Are troubled schools across the country going to have to go out and solicit for guardian angels?

GATES: No, I don't think that's the way of the future. I think what he's done is absolutely fantastic because I think he can set New Jersey on a path. But I think we have money in the system that can be reused both at the high school level and at the community college level. Today we spend $2 billion remediating kids to go back and learn what they needed to learn in high school in community college. That money can be repurposed at the community college level. So we can do lots of things to stimulate the system.

LAUER: I just have about a minute left, and Melinda, I want to stick with you for  a second. Your family has done amazing things in terms of philanthropy, dedicating some $60 billion you're going to give away over your lifetimes. Talk to that person out there who has just been through the recession, maybe they lost their job, their home, their retirement savings and maybe they're picking up the pieces and build their finances again, how do you convince that average person to donate to charity when they see their own situation being so unstable?

GATS: I think we're a generous economy. And I think while there are many people who need jobs or need more work than they have got, we also see people amongst us in our community that need our time and our help. So I think it's important that we give our time, our energy, our money in any way to lift our own communities up. And I think community colleges are one way to do that and there are ways to do it in our own community as well.

LAUER: Melinda Gates. And Dr. Biden, thanks for you work with community colleges. I think you have done an awful lot to raise the profiles of these institutions over the last many years.

DR. BIDEN: Today's going to be a good day. Thanks

LAUER: Thanks to both of you.