Rockland Community College has been rated the top public two-year college in New York State for adult learners in Washington Monthly’s 2018 College Guide and Rankings. For the second straight year, RCC also ranked #28 nationally out of some 1,500 two-year colleges.
The Washington Monthly survey, in its third year, caters to students 25 or older, a segment that constitutes 30 percent of the country’s college student population. The publication used data from two federal government sources and the College Board’s annual survey of colleges. It then combined the data into eight measures of colleges’ openness and responsiveness to adult students and how well those students fared once they left.
The measures are: ease of transfer/enrollment; flexibility of programs; services available for adult students; percentage of adults students at the college; graduation rate of part-time students; mean earnings of adult students 10 years after entering college; loan repayment rates of adult students five years after entering repayment; and tuition and fees for in-district students. RCC achieved the maximum score in the categories of ease of transfer/enrollment and services for adult students, and was one point shy of the maximum for flexibility of programs. More than 25 percent of RCC’s 7,000 full- and part-time students are 25 or older.
The national ranking underscores RCC’s commitment to its adult student population, as reflected in the recent rollout of its Middle Skills Academy initiative.
“Here at Rockland Community College, we are deeply committed to providing a purpose-driven education for our adult students so that they can positively transform their lives and their communities,” said RCC President Dr. Michael A. Baston. “It is in this work that we are proud to announce the creation of the Rockland Community College Middle Skills Academy. Within our academy, we will be able to create direct pipelines from our institution to industry partners in the healthcare, IT, energy and other sectors for jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage but for which certification can be achieved in less than one year.”
“The Middle Skills Academy was created with adult learners in mind,” said Dr. Penny Jennings, interim executive director of Extension Sites and Community Partnerships. “Our motto, ‘Less than one year to career,’ is deliberate. At RCC we realize that adult learners are interested in short-term programs that provide them with the skills to earn good pay in an industry with advancement opportunities.”
In the Washington Montly survey, RCC ranked No. 2 for adult learners among two-year colleges in the state, behind St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center School of Nursing, a private nonprofit in Syracuse, N.Y.
For more information about RCC’s Middle Skills Academy, contact Dr. Penny Jennings at pjenning@sunyrockland.edu, 845-574-4323 or 845-574-4518.
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