"Beyond the College Walls": New Book Co-Edited by BHCC's President Makes the Case for Partnerships
Wednesday, November 4, 2026
A new book co-edited by Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) President Pam Eddinger argues that community colleges need much stronger partnerships with employers, local communities, and civic allies if more students are to finish their degrees. Beyond the College Walls: Partnerships and the Future of Community College Reform (Harvard Education Press) was released last week and was the subject of a Q&A with Eddinger in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The book’s contributors include college presidents, researchers, and policymakers. They note that six-year community college completion rates have risen from 37 percent to 44 percent, but stubborn equity gaps remain. After more than two decades of work on the "completion agenda," Eddinger says the colleges know which solutions work. Scaling them requires funding, political will, and leaders who stay long enough to see changes through.
Eddinger pointed to the pandemic as a turning point. When campuses closed, students needed food, transportation, and other basic supports to stay enrolled. A nonprofit lent cars and helped with deliveries, and local businesses donated and offered remote internships. "No matter how good you are as an anchoring institution, you can't do it alone," she told the Chronicle.
At Bunker Hill, one answer is a new degree apprenticeship model, which lets students enter their professions sooner and get paid while they learn. Allied health is the first focus. Eddinger said that too many nursing students, for example, find it impossible to balance coursework, a job, and unpaid clinical hours. By partnering with the College on apprenticeship, hospitals can gain a steadier pipeline of trained workers, and students can gain a way to learn and earn at once. Eddinger said these solutions depend on trust and collaboration between sectors that have long been separate.