(a) The Legislature makes the following findings related to state community and technical colleges:
(1) Community and technical colleges are a distinctively American invention. They fill a critical gap between public secondary education and the baccalaureate institutions and universities and they provide a connection between adult basic education and higher education. Their overriding mission is to provide affordable access to postsecondary education and to provide this education and related services to people who otherwise might not have enrolled in a college or university. They provide access to students who live in geographic proximity and who seek low-cost postsecondary education.