On Monday, President Barack Obama officially unveiled his budget for 2013.  As he spoke from Northern Virginia Community College, Obama highlighted the more than $65 billion in education funding focused on resources dedicated to transforming K-12 and postsecondary education to ensure students have the skills and knowledge to succeed in the future.

Educators and policymakers realize that all of America’s students need a high-quality education to prepare them for college and careers. 2012 promises to be another busy year in  transformational strategies in education. In order to ensure a world-class education, leaders will likely address these top five issues facing states and territories (“the states”) this year.

Maryland became the 12th state in the country to allow illegal immigrants living within its borders to attend colleges and universities at in-state prices when Gov. Martin O’Malley signed Senate Bill 167 in early May.

This Act establishes a program to enable eleventh and twelfth grade high school students to attend postsecondary colleges and schools and get high school credit. It contains requirements for course credit and state funding.

Higher education across the country continues to struggle with state funding cuts, aging facilities, increasing tuition rates and a rapidly increasing student population. An annual survey of community college directors conducted by the Education Policy Center shows  educators are worried if these trends continue, higher education may be out of reach for many Americans.

Community colleges are in crisis mode in the wake of the Great Recession. They are at the center of work force retraining for those left unemployed by the economic collapse and at the same time are experiencing large increases in enrollment of 18-year-olds looking to start their higher education careers. Underfunded for years, community colleges also are being hit with more budget cuts as states struggle to close massive budget deficits—leading to tuition increases and enrollment caps just as the services community colleges offer are needed most.

Community colleges are experiencing record student enrollment while states are cutting their budgets due to large deficits. Enrollment caps are limiting people's access to higher education.

States are using a variety of tactics to get people back to work through retraining programs, most of which are on community college campuses.  Big enrollment increases, couple with state budget cuts, is leaving many colleges in a fiscal crisis.