Bunker Hill Community College Among Fastest Growing Community Colleges in U.S.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Bunker Hill Community College ranks among the 20 fastest growing of U.S. community colleges with enrollments of 10,000 or more, according to an analysis by Community College Week, an independent publication covering community, technical and junior colleges. The largest and most affordable community college in Massachusetts, BHCC currently enrolls more than 14,000 students.
BHCC is among the few community colleges in the study whose growth increased between fall 2012 and fall 2013, bucking a trend toward declining enrollments at colleges around the country, according to the study. “Since community college enrollment reached its all-time peak in 2010, it has declined 7.1 percent, from nearly 7.9 million to just over 7.3 million,” reported Community College Week. BHCC’ s enrollment has grown 30 percent since 2009.
Colleges successfully fighting such trends often attribute continued growth to successful efforts to align their programs with the demands of employers and four-year colleges. “BHCC continues to expand its partnerships with employers to develop programs that meet specific workforce needs,” said BHCC President Pam Y. Eddinger, “and highly successful programs like Learn and Earn, which offers paid internships in prestigious Greater Boston companies, continue to attract students to our College.” In addition, BHCC is steadily increasing agreements with four-year institutions, make transferring easier and encouraging students to consider community college for their first two years of college.
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About Bunker Hill Community College
With more than 50 years of academic excellence, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is Massachusetts' largest community college, annually welcoming a diverse community of around 16,000 students. With campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, BHCC extends its reach across several locations in Greater Boston. The College offers associate degrees and certificates, early college and dual enrollment, community education, corporate training, and industry-specific training programs. BHCC is celebrated for its diversity, boasting a student body where 65% identify as people of color and more than half are women. The College also embraces a global perspective, with over 600 international students representing 90 countries and conversing in more than 65 languages. Our commitment to diversity is further reflected in BHCC's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).