The educational horizon shifts south for U.S. border colleges.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Inspired by - the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), community colleges throughout the Southwest are developing curricula catering to a growing number of students seeking careers linked to hemispheric trade.

School officials in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas say the increasing integration of the North American economies have provided a new sense of urgency to efforts to expand ties with Mexico.

The rush for cross-border collaboration -- exchange programs, sabbaticals, cultural tours and enhanced foreign language programs has a distinct, trade-oriented spin.

Dr. David Pierce, president of the American Association of Community Colleges, says schools believe that the term "community" -- mentioned in most schools' mission statements -- no longer should be defined in a narrow, geographic context.

"Not only are local communities composed of growing numbers of immigrants," he writes in a recent …