Best Community Colleges: Victor Valley College (CA)

 

Best Community Colleges: Victor Valley College (CA)

Victor Valley Community College, located in Victorville, California, offers associate degrees in an array of areas. The community college offers majors such as business management, registered nursing, music, welding, agriculture and natural resources, animation, criminal justice and construction technology. The college offers traditional classes and some online classes.

Victor Valley Community College, one of the largest community colleges in California, has about 12,000 full-time students.

Victor Valley College’s Health Science/Public Safety/Industrial Technology division provides career technical education.

The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (S.T.E.M.) division prepares students to transfer to four-year colleges and universities and prepares them for careers requiring a math or science background.

The Victor Valley College Office of Instruction provides traditional classes, online classes and hybrid classes

The community college also provides the Instructional Programs, Humanities, Arts & Letters Division

Victor Valley Community College provides vocational technology labs in agriculture, engineering, construction, welding and in other fields.

The Center for institutional Excellence provides guidance and support for all the school’s academic and non-academic programs on campus. The center evaluates change and offers best educational practices via evaluations and program reviews.

Victor Valley College ranked #3 in the CNN Money listing of top community colleges in 2012

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Best Community Colleges: Georgia Military College (GA)

 

Best Community Colleges: Georgia Military College (GA)

Georgia Military College, established in 1879 and located in Milledgeville, Georgia, is a co-educational liberal arts junior college and a separate preparatory school (grades 6-12). GMC focuses its educational programs on two facets: 1) Development of the intellect and 2) Elevation of character and three values: Duty, Honor and Country.

The main campus in Milledgeville serves approximately 275 full-time, resident ROTC students (the Corps of Cadets) and 200-300 commuting students. GMC’s 5 distance learning centers and 2 extension offices in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Madison, Sandersville, Valdosta and Warner Robins serve ~4,000 students.
The distance learning centers also serve as junior colleges to their local communities. The preparatory school’s ACCEL Program enables qualified seniors to attend classes at the junior college and the high school simultaneously, while earning credit for both their high school diploma and their college degree.

GMC is one of five military junior colleges in the Army’s Early Commissioning Program (ECP). Cadets who graduate from the college’s two-year, military science-oriented curriculum receive an officer’s commission in the U.S. Army.

After completing the two-year degree, GMC graduates pursuing a 4-year degree at Georgia’s senior military college, North Georgia College and State University (NGC&SU) in Dahlonega, Georgia qualify for a transfer scholarship. After completing their four-year degrees, they are promoted as a 1st Lieutenant in the US Army. In addition, numerous articulation agreements exist between allied colleges.

The college offers 3 degrees: Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Science (AS) and Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in a variety of study areas, e.g. Criminal Justice, Human Communication, Logistics Management, International Affairs, Psychology.

GMC’s classes are small, typically no more than 15 students, and ensuring individual attention; for students who request it. Every course provides free tutoring.

College Atlas.org named MMI one of the top 25 community colleges. The college ranked #9 in the CNN Money listing of community colleges in 2012. GMC ranked #12 in the 2010 Washington Monthly ranking of top 100 U.S. community colleges.

 

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Best Community Colleges: Marion Military Institute (AL)

 

Best Community Colleges: Marion Military Institute (AL)

Marion Military Institute (MMI), located in Marion, Alabama, is a two-year junior college and regarded as the official state military college of Alabama. Founded in 1842, MMI is the oldest military junior college in the U.S. The junior college focuses on intellectual, moral-ethical, physical-athletic, and leadership development experiences in a military environment. In recent years, MMI has produced more than 206 admirals and generals; the school has a number of renowned military alumni.

MMI offers various military training programs including the Army’s Early Commissioning Program (ECP) in which qualified students can get commissioned as a Second Lieutenant after two years of college.

The Service Academy Preparation Program (SAP) provides freshmen a year of solid academic and physical preparation for students who wish to attend one of the Service Academies (West Point, Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, Merchant Marine Academy or Coast Guard Academy). Marion also offers the first two years of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps.

MMI recently introduced a new program: An extracurricular flight-training program using a local partner in aviation. Enrollees learn to fly through a combination of online ground school instruction, computer-based and in-flight training.

Providing a private pilot’s certificate, the program is designed to preclude U.S. Air Force and Navy Initial Flight Screening (IFS) requirements.

Annual enrollment of degree- and non-degree-seeking students is ~400.

The junior college offers Associate of Science and Associate of Arts degree programs, based on a rigorous General Studies curriculum. Within these programs, students may select study options based on their interests; they can choose the General Studies curriculum or, focus on specific disciplines e.g. Natural Science, Pre-nursing, Elementary Education or Criminal Justice.

Cadet life at Marion is rich with extracurricular options such as Choir, Sports, Drama, Band, Drill Team, etc.

The college ranked #12 in the CNN Money list of top community colleges in 2012.

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Best Community Colleges: Western Wyoming Community College (WY)

 

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Best Community Colleges: Western Wyoming Community College (WY)

Situated in Rock Springs, Wyoming, Western Wyoming Community College (WWCC) is one of seven community colleges in Wyoming. An extended campus center is located in Green River in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs is the fourth largest town in Wyoming; the next closest towns are Salt Lake City, Utah (180 miles) and Denver, Colorado (350 miles).

Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area are all accessible to the WCCCC community.

Due to the high elevation and harsh winters in the area, all of the main college is located indoors, connected by hallways.

The junior college awards one-year certificates in 36 program areas, including:

• Journalism
• Web Site Development
• Technical Theatre
• Accounting
• Digital Design Technologies
• Fitness Leadership
• Power Plant Maintenance Mechanics

Western Wyoming Community College confers Associate of Arts (AA), Associate of Fine Arts (AFA), Associate of Nursing (AN), Associate of Science (AS) and Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degrees, and a few four-year degrees in partnership with the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming.

Degree-related programs include:

• Science and Mathematics
• Humanities and Fine Arts
• Health Science
• Social Science
• Business
• Technology & Industry

Close to 70 percent of students are in transfer programs. The school has a strong international students segment, with many resources including a host family program.

Online and compressed video courses are available statewide; online courses may be taken for associate, bachelor and master degree courses.

An annual “Wyoming Safety & Workforce Summit” is free to the community and offers presentations on safety issues and workforce development.

WWCC is also home to the Instructional Well-Site Facility, a closed-loop system that provides “real world” training for local industry technicians and customized specialty courses. This site also serves as a meeting space for industry professionals.

WWCC is a member of The National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC). College Atlas.org named WWCC one of the top 25 community colleges. The college ranked #13 in the CNN Money listing of top community colleges in 2012. Finally, WCCC ranked #15 in the 2010 Washington Monthly ranking of the top 100 U. S. community colleges

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Best Community Colleges:Northeast Alabama Community College (AL)

 

Best Community Colleges:Northeast Alabama Community College (AL)

Situated near Rainsville, Alabama between DeKalb and Jackson counties, Northeast Alabama Community College (NACC) serves the Northeast Alabama region.

Through the academic divisions at Northeast Alabama Community College – Business & Computer Science, English & Fine Arts, Mathematics, Health Sciences, Social Science/Speech/Foreign Language and Natural Sciences — students may earn an Associate of Arts (AA), Associate in Science (AS) or Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in more than 130 majors.

Career/Technical programs, which lead to a certificate or an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree, include such programs as Drafting & Design Technology, Salon & Spa Management, Industrial Electronics, and Emergency Medical Services.

STARS (for state colleges and universities in Alabama) and 2TO4 (for independent colleges and universities in Alabama) are articulation agreements guaranteeing NACC credits transfer to four-year institutions and two years at NACC counts as two years towards a bachelor degree.

Graduates of its Technical/Career programs have ranked first within the Alabama Community College System in job retention and NACC students have placed first among prospective teachers taking the Basic Skills test.

Northeast Alabama Community College also has Distance Education, Continuing Education (including ESL and GED) and Workplace Education (classes offered by a company or industry specifically for its employees) programs available. Additionally, NACC chosen as one of 36 colleges to participate in the Plus 50 Encore Completion Program, a national effort sponsored by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to train 10,000 baby boomers for new jobs in healthcare, education and social services.

The community college ranked #15 in the CNN Money listing of top community colleges in 2012. The Aspen Institute listed Northeast Alabama Community College among the top 10% of all U.S. community colleges in 2013.

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