that is available. There can be no exceptions, economic or otherwise.
The opportunity must be made available to all, on an equal basis.
Certainly one of the knottiest problems we face in America today is
the problem of educating citizens of this and future generations to
meet the requirements of the complex and ever-changing environment
in which we live.

A high school education, once a mark of considerable achievement,
today is considered a practical minimum of formal education. A
baccalaureate degree is required for beginners in an increasing number
of occupations, and graduate or professional degrees are required
for many.

No one is more aware than I of the grave responsibility we face
in preparing young men and young women for entry into this changed
and changing world. Despite the carping of some critics, with varying
motives, perhaps, I think it can be said that the State of Maryland has
taken the necessary steps to meet this great challenge. In just about
every category of appropriation in the involved budget for higher
education, the allocations have doubled, tripled or quadrupled in
the seven-year period.

Likewise, in capital outlay — the money allocated for buildings,
grounds and equipment — the increase is spectacular. In 1961,
$6, 492, 800 in capital improvement funds was earmarked for higher
education. In the budget for next year, the figure is $19, 891, 400, for
an increase of 326 per cent. In the past five years — 1961 through
1965 — $68, 925, 600 has been set aside for plant improvement of the
State-supported university and colleges.

The community colleges of Maryland, such as this one you have
established here in Prince George's County, undoubtedly will play an
increasingly important role in our overall program of higher educa-
tion, and particularly in meeting the demands of what has been
called "the new technology" of our age. They have the capacity, or at
least the potential capacity, of providing more and better education
on the semi-professional technical and skilled levels, which, as we
have said, is so vitally essential to the health and soundness of our
economy and our social structure.

In a talk to a group of educators some months ago, President
Johnson said:

"We, no less than generations of Americans before us, must put our
faith in education at all levels for all the people. We must rest our
faith and our hopes for America on education — not for some, but
education for all. "

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