Bunker Hill Community College Among "Leader Colleges" for Student Completion
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Bunker Hill Community College has won recognition as a Leader College by Achieving the Dream, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping community college students succeed. BHCC is one of 23 institutions nationwide to win such designation for demonstrating sustained improvement and accomplishments on key student achievement indicators.
“The work of improving student success is very difficult, critically important and urgent,” said Achieving the Dream President & CEO William Trueheart. “Bunker Hill Community College deserves enormous recognition for its focus on equity and excellence and for its extraordinary contributions to its communities and our nation.”
Bunker Hill Community College became part of Achieving the Dream in 2007 when it was one of just four community colleges in Massachusetts and one of 84 out of 1,177 community colleges chosen to take part in this multi-year initiative to boost community college student success. The College received a grant of $450,000 over five years from the Lumina Foundation and four Massachusetts foundations: The Boston Foundation; the Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation; the Education Resources Institute; and the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation.
In earning the designation of Leader College, BHCC has demonstrated committed leadership, use of evidence to improve programs and services, broad engagement, and systemic institutional improvement. Additionally, the College has demonstrated three years of sustained improvement in student success and equity, and measurable gains in student retention.
Achieving the Dream currently involves 160 institutions in 30 states and the District of Columbia, helping 3.5 million students. The program focuses on creating a “culture of evidence” on community college campuses in which data collection and analysis drive efforts to identify problems that prevent students from succeeding – particularly low-income students and students of color—and develop programs to help students stay in school and receive a certificate or diploma or transfer to a four-year institution.
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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).