Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) has offered dual-enrollment programming since 2004. But after analyzing its dual-enrollment data in recent years, NOVA leaders saw some big gaps and took action. Leaders wanted to find out what the college and students were getting from its dual enrollment. There were benefits, of course. Dual enrollment brings in state […]
Completion Articles
Women welders forge their futures for life after prison
A group of women made history in March when they graduated from a new welding certificate program at Central Maine Community College (CMCC). Seven of the eight women are incarcerated. They are residents at the Southern Maine Women’s Re-entry Center in Windham, a Maine Department of Corrections (MDOC) facility. DOC vocational trades instructor Corrine Bailey […]
Coming full circle
They were once students, and now they are cornerstone faculty for Portland Community College’s (PCC’s) community education program. Today, Jolie Donohue, Rosie Romaine and Rod Smith teach a wide range of popular non-credit classes focused on health, landscaping and growing food. The three instructors show how their community college journeys have come full circle. Donohue […]
On the fast track to graduation
Programs at Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) are constantly evolving. The new Business FastTrack pathway can help students swiftly achieve an Associate of Arts, Business Degree. Beginning this fall, this completely online program is designed to offer flexibility to students with competing priorities, provide access to full-time enrollment, and ensure timely graduation in one or […]
Spokane Chiefs and SCC team up for players’ education
Two days a week, Regan Wiles heads to training with the Spokane Chiefs hockey team. He walks past the ice rink, goes into a makeshift classroom and settles in for his English 101 class with Spokane Community College (SCC). It is his fourth year with the team, and this is the first year that the class has […]
Increasing access to mental health support
CT State Community College (CT State) in February announced that it will hire seven additional mental health and wellness counselors and develop new programs as part of a plan to provide greater access to on-site counseling and wellness services at its 12 community colleges. The expansion comes after receiving feedback from students and a recent […]
Building social justice degree programs
In fall 2022, New Jersey’s Camden County College and Hudson County Community College (HCCC) launched social justice degree programs. With no template to work from, the colleges had to figure out how to effectively and efficiently build their own programs. Staff and faculty from the two colleges spoke about designing the new programs this week […]
New alliance gives students new opportunities
Six Maryland community colleges have joined forces to form the Maryland Education Alliance (MEA) to further boost students’ opportunities to earn associate degrees or certificates in the health care disciplines across the state. The MEA is an innovative collaboration that creates a clear, seamless pathway for students to move from one community college to another […]
‘Nursing Flex’ caters to working nurses
Jessica Barnes loves her job as a registered nurse at the Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center in Decatur, Georgia. The 2021 Associate Degree Nursing Flex graduate says Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College (OCtech) prepared her well for working in the center’s fast-paced emergency room. “Being an RN is a lot of responsibility, but it’s also […]
Student story: Reconnecting with a childhood dream
For Shamarri Key, cooking is love. “I can vividly remember cooking with my family, all of us laughing and joking together,” said Key, a 27-year-old enrolled in Grand Rapids Community College’s (GRCC’s) culinary arts program. “I felt the overall presence of passion and perseverance that gave me the enthusiasm to thrive for a bigger purpose.” […]