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Community colleges today have taken center stage in post-secondary education and training by becoming an affordable quality pathway to a gainful career as well as a low-debt or even debt-free bachelor’s degree.

More than 525,000 students have graduated from one of the 14 community colleges in Pennsylvania since 1965. Luzerne County Community College’s contribution to this total is more than 33,750 graduates to date.

The college’s faculty, staff, and administrators continue to work tirelessly to surpass the success of the last 50 years. The evidence of these efforts are our graduates and those successfully transferring to four-year institutions throughout the nation.

This hard work also has led to LCCC recently being named as the Best Community College in Pennsylvania by WalletHub.

Data used to create this ranking were collected from the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. News, U.S. Department of Education, Council for Community and Economic Research and College Measures. Seventeen metrics grouped under three key dimensions were used: cost and financing, educational outcomes and career opportunities.

Each community college’s weighted average were reviewed, leading to LCCC topping the list. Of particular note, LCCC ranked in the top 17 percent, or 121 out of 715 in the educational outcomes category.

LCCC’s mission, which focuses on access and educational excellence, is our greatest distinction and yet brings our biggest challenge. LCCC welcomes students from all academic, social and financial backgrounds. We embrace this challenge and responsibility by creating a dynamic learning environment, affordable career and educational pathways and by providing holistic support services for all students.

The college’s focus goes beyond our four walls, as we intentionally engage with area school districts, four-year institutions, and local industries to create partnerships that help to foster an academic progression network aimed at reaching academic, personal and economic success for all students.

Dual admission agreements with our students’ top 10 transfer institutions; our Early College Program; innovative developmental strategies around English, ESL, and math; and our College English and Math Ready high school partnership programs are just a few of the ways we are making a difference.

Our mission continues to guide our professional practice while recognizing that the higher education landscape continues to evolve and change. The unprecedented challenges of today around enrollment declines, educational alignment gaps, financial support, and employability demands require us to continue to bring researched-based practices found to be integral to student success. And while our work is focused on the needs of our current students, our plans are aspirational, recognizing the rapid pace of change in our region, world and industries today.

We will continue to do transformational work anchored on academic rigor and diverse individual support services. The results, whether nationally recognized or not, will be evident in the graduates we produce and the impact we will continue to have in our region, state and nation. And as our work continues, we are proud to be Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Community College and the number one community college in Pennsylvania.

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Cheryl Lesser

Guest Columnist

Rosana Reyes

Guest Columnist

Rosana Reyes is vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Development at Luzerne County Community College. Cheryl Lesser is vice president of Academic Affairs at Luzerne County Community College.