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“I fell in love with the medical profession when I was volunteering as an EMT for Harleysville Area Emergency Medical Service, Inc. I knew before I even graduated high school that I wanted to be a nurse and help people in my community,” said Joel Bergey, a Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) alumnus and Pennsylvania…

“When I first came home from Afghanistan in December 2003, I couldn’t find my way. I felt like I didn’t fit into my life anymore. Within a few months I was homeless and on drugs,” recalled Jennifer Grubb, BSN-RN, a Delaware County Community College (DCCC) alumna and United States Army veteran whose first day of…

“In 2016, I realized my calling. I wanted to establish a veteran’s support group for women focused on empowerment in the Lehigh Valley. I had all these skills from advocating and teaching – public speaking, facilitating – but I didn’t have the business skills to start my own non-profit. So I went back to school,”…

Xiomara Pagan, an alumna of Lehigh Carbon Community College, recently shared her aspirations of becoming a teacher and some of the challenges she had to overcome to earn her associate degree. She found an affordable transfer pathway to pursue her dreams at community college. Ms. Pagan is just one of the thousands of students that…

“I wanted my child to be proud of me, and I didn’t know how to make that happen. So I came to HACC,” said La-Verna Fountain, an army veteran and alumna of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, while recounting her experience with a professor whose belief in her helped change her life. “I went on…

“I’ve always wanted to serve my country,” said Colleen Hennessy, non-traditional student at Northampton Community College (NCC) who also works full-time. “The Airforce seemed like a good fit, and offered more opportunity, so I enlisted.” Following her honorable discharge in the late-90s, Ms. Hennessy struggled with PTSD, as many veterans do. In 2015 she sought…

DIRECTOR OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS The Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges is a nonprofit, volunteer membership association and the primary advocate for Pennsylvania’s 15 community colleges. Based in Harrisburg, PA, its members include the college presidents, members of the colleges’ boards of trustees and key college administrators. The Commission provides leadership on issues affecting…

Expanding an already robust offering of certificates, diplomas and degrees, Pennsylvania community colleges will offer 83 new programs in wide-ranging and in-demand careers for the 2022-23 academic year. The in-person and distance education opportunities include programs in areas of critical need like emergency services, health care and technology. “As the largest provider of public postsecondary…

Clintaysha Hampton, a Spring 2022 graduate of Montgomery County Community College, recently shared her journey of finding a workforce pathway to a career in the healthcare field. After several tries at college, she found the affordable, accessible higher education offered by community college was the best fit for her as a working mother. Pennsylvania is…

At their annual retreat today, the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges Council of Presidents reviewed and applauded a groundbreaking new program called Drexel Promise, which will offer a 50 percent tuition discount to Pennsylvania community college graduates beginning in 2023. “This unprecedented initiative by Drexel is a model for making higher education more affordable in…