As we watch our student loan debt grow larger and larger, community college is experiencing a quickly growing enrollment spike at their schools. Once looked down on as "the easy route" or (as many students in my high school called it) "High School: Part 2," many students are realizing the economic advantage of attending community college for some (or all) of their college degrees. 

Big names are taking notice too, as the Bill and Melinda Gates' foundation, a giant philanthropic organization, has decided to spend almost a half billion dollars on making sure students complete college. MSNBC reports that this initiative would include a focus on two-year and community college. 

Exciting as this may be, the Gates' foundation is facing some criticism, as some wonder if the money is well spent: 

But perhaps more important is the unprecedented attention community colleges are attracting from a range of experts and organizations wrestling with some of education's most intractable problems — namely, low achievement for poor and minority students, and embarrassing college completion rates. While the United States has one of the highest proportions of young adults enrolled in college, it lags behind a dozen or so rivals in the proportion who complete a degree. 

The Gates' foundation, however, hopes that change this: 

But the Gates initiative sends a big signal, not only because of the foundation's size — it had assets of $35.1 billion as of Oct. 1 — but also because Gates is known for rigorously researching its funding choices to determine where it can make the most difference.

"When people hear the Gates Foundation is considering investing in something it attracts attention," Lincoln [an education expert] said. "I think it's going to be a tremendous impact."

As the money in the world goes down the toilet, props to students for figuring out that the name of your university isn't always what's important, and the Gates' foundation for trying to make us, as a nation, a little smarter.