Washington Monthly Names BHCC Among Best Colleges for Adult Learners
Wednesday, August 30, 2017
Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) was named one of “The Twelve Most Innovative Colleges for Adult Learners” by Washington Monthly. The article appeared within the publication’s 2017-2018 College Rankings, an annual report released as the September/October 2017 issue.
Just breaking the top 50, the College ranked 49 nationally among the publication’s ranking of “Best Colleges for Adults Learners,” but it was BHCC’s holistic approach to serving the needs of its students that caught the attention of reporter Joshua Alvarez.
The College takes “a particularly innovative approach to a problem that is startlingly common among community college students: hunger,” he said, pointing to a recent study that found 67% of community college students in America are “food insecure.”
Within the article, Alvarez highlights BHCC’s implementation of One Solid Meal, a program that provides free cafeteria meals and food gift cards to students, and the College’s on-campus branch of Single Stop, a national nonprofit organization that provides students with resources for healthcare, taxes, housing, food and financial aid.
Adult Learners, students 25 years or older, constitute approximately 40% of the overall population of college-goers, but according to Alvarez, most colleges and universities have not adapted to the trend.
“Elite colleges don’t make the cut,” he said, pointing to the majority of college-level courses at these institutions being scheduled midday, over evening and weekend options. “It’s the unheralded schools that are figuring it out.”
Beyond meeting basic needs such as food and housing, Alvarez notes BHCC’s commitment to the Open Educational Resources (OER) Degree Initiative as a way to further reduce costs for its students. OER is a growing national effort to create college courses and degree programs that use only freely accessible, openly licensed textbooks and other media instead of the usual expensive proprietary materials.
Read Joshua Alvarez’ article “The Twelve Most Innovative Colleges for Adult Learners.”
Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls more than 14,000 students on two campuses and at three satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-four percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls nearly 1,000 international students who come from 107 countries and speak more than 75 languages.
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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).