Achieving the Dream recently announced the recertification of Highline College as an Achieving the Dream Leader College, a national designation awarded to community colleges that commit to improving student success and closing achievement gaps.
Leader Colleges have demonstrated how data can inform policy and practice to help community college students achieve their goals, resulting in improved skills, better employability, and economic growth for families, communities and the nation as a whole. Highline was one of 16 community colleges recognized during the recertification process, which institutions must undergo every three years. Highline has been active in Achieving the Dream since 2006 and was first named a Leader College in 2011.
“The work of improving student success is critically important to our education and economy,” said Carol Lincoln, Achieving the Dream senior vice president. “These 16 institutions have demonstrated that better student outcomes are possible when institutions focus on policies and practices that help students learn at high levels and overcome challenges life throws at them. These colleges are working hard to move the needle for whole cohorts of students, and deserve recognition efforts and promising achievements.”
Two other recertified institutions are from Washington state: Renton Technical College in Renton, Wash. and Tacoma Community College in Tacoma, Wash. The others are: Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Mass.; Community College of Beaver County in Monaca, Pa.; Community College of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pa.; College of the Mainland in Texas City, Texas; Delaware County Community College in Media, Pa.; Galveston College in Galveston, Texas; Lee College in Baytown, Texas; Montgomery County Community College in Bluebell, Pa.; Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Mass.; Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas in Helena-West Helena, Ark.; Roxbury Community College in Roxbury Crossing, Mass.; San Jacinto College in Pasadena, Texas; Westmoreland County Community College in Youngwood, Pa.
Highline was also recently named as part of Achieving the Dream’s national community college expansion of the Working Families Success Network strategy, which promotes postsecondary completion for students whose economic challenges can thwart their academic and career goals.
