Times like these demonstrate the tremendous value of postsecondary education. A recent Gazette report by Linda Halstead-Acharya provided dramatic examples of how education helped laid-off Stillwater miners get back to work:

n Benji Butler took a one-week welding class at the Montana State University Billings College of Technology and then went to work at a temporary job building Signal Peak mining facilities near Roundup.

n Tanya Oberman has gone back to school to study nursing.

n Tara Smith also enrolled in the Billings COT to take classes in preparation for enrolling in a nursing program.

n Annie Thomas is heading for culinary school this fall.

The state Job Service rapid-response team assisted miners who were laid off last fall and more recently has been meeting with Sutton's employees as that local shirt design business prepared to close. MSUB representatives worked with the rapid-response team in both cases, said university spokesman Dan Carter.

"We continue to balance immediate needs with long-term benefits," Carter told The Gazette. "Some of our short-term welding programs that were designed to meet needs of laid-off Stillwater Mining employees helped position students for new careers, but other programs - automotive technology, power plant technology, business or education, for example - are long-term commitments that position students for success two years or four years down the road."

New educational opportunities at MSUB have been developed to serve a wide range of students. For example, master's degree courses will start this fall for students who want to provide applied behavioral analysis to assist children who are autistic. The College of Professional Studies and Lifelong Learning is using a grant to serve as a community hub for training nontraditional students. MSUB COT is collaborating with the Great Falls COT on a curriculum for wind turbine technology and other energy careers.

Funding for higher education will be tight next year. However, Montana colleges and universities are in better financial positions than those in many other states. Even with limited resources, it's so important to recognize, as MSUB does, that a college education in the 21st century must provide students with lots of options and up-to-date instruction.

This is the fifth and last in a series of editorials offering a midyear update on community issues raised in the editorial board's community agenda on Jan. 1. Read the entire series in the Opinion section at billingsgazette.com.