Yakima Valley College announced today that it will join #CCMonth, a month-long grassroots education and stigma-busting campaign coordinated by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT). The primary goals of #CCmonth are to improve awareness of the economic, academic and equity advantages of attending community colleges, and to bust longtime stigmas wrongly associated with public two-year colleges.
“The past year has proved beyond any doubt that our college is absolutely vital to our community and our state,” said Jennifer Ernst, YVC vice president of instruction and student services. “#CCMonth is an opportunity to reach out and demonstrate not only that community colleges should be the first choice of many collegegoers, but why community colleges are first-class institutions that are vital to our local and state economies.”
Public community colleges like YVC are a uniquely American educational model that was designed to guarantee access to affordable, high-quality higher education for all people. They are the primary educators of life-saving nursing and other healthcare professionals among many others. They also serve as an on-ramp to bachelor’s, master’s and higher-level degrees for many students, and particularly for demographically and socioeconomically diverse communities.
At YVC 84% of the study body are the first in their family to attend college, while 73% are from low-income households and 83% receive grants, scholarships or other types of aid.
Community colleges guarantee fair admissions for all students. They offer supports for adult students who have to work to support their families. And without community colleges, many American students would not be able to access higher education at all.
In short, Ernst said, community colleges were created to serve the needs of their communities, and they do it exceptionally well.
Despite all this, many people wrongly believe that community colleges are inferior institutions, and in most states, universities receive significantly more per-student state support than community colleges do. These negative attitudes and disparities support and encourage ongoing socioeconomic and demographic disadvantages and inequities in the United States.
“Community colleges are engines of diversity, equity and inclusion,” said ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee. “They give opportunities to all students, and they support all students throughout their educations, whether they attend to attain an associate degree or certificate, intend to transfer on for a bachelor’s or higher degree, or they take one or a few courses to learn a new skill or expand their horizons.”
Completing a degree or certificate shouldn’t be complicated. At YVC, related programs are grouped into academic pathways to help students focus their time while expert advisors support students in creating manageable academic plans. YVC offers 5 bachelor of applied science degrees, more than 50 associate degrees and more than 100 certificates.
Learn more about YVC’s academic programs.
Press Release Contacts:
Dustin Wunderlich / 509.574.6870 / dwunderlich@yvcc.edu
Stefanie Menard / 509.574.4646 / smenard@yvcc.edu
Original source can be found here.
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