• April 18, 2019

Vantage Celebrates Community Colleges for #CommunityCollegeMonth

Vantage Celebrates Community Colleges for #CommunityCollegeMonth

Vantage Celebrates Community Colleges for #CommunityCollegeMonth 1024 509 Vantage Technology Consulting Group

April is Community College Month and we would like to celebrate the more than 1,100 community colleges who enroll over 13 million students across the United States. Community College Month is an initiative led by the College Promise Campaign that seeks to increase the number of well-educated, career-ready college graduates through investments in community college programs.

The name “community college” originates from the fact that these colleges primarily attract students from their local communities and are generally supported by local taxes. Community colleges, also known as junior colleges, technical colleges or city colleges, are mostly 2-year public institutions offering associate degrees in a wide variety of disciplines that can be used either as a springboard to a better job or a stepping stone to a 4-year college.

Why Community Colleges are So Important

In an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the case is made for why community colleges are essential for our educational system:

  1. Providing an Open Door – For many young Americans, a 4-year college is intimidating in many aspects and community colleges provide a chance to get a taste of college close to home or while working full- or part-time. By letting students start small and local, community colleges provide an opportunity to explore what higher education can offer.
  2. Reaching Diverse Groups – Community colleges recruit students from their community and generally have populations that mirror these communities. This results in a higher enrollment of minority, non-traditional and Veteran students at community colleges.
  3. Fulfilling the Nation’s Goals – The US needs to have an educated workforce in order to compete in an increasingly technical world where more training beyond a traditional high school diploma is needed. Community colleges provide vital training, especially in technical areas, and a pathway to a 4-year degree for many students.

Community colleges also offer an affordable and economical alternative to a 4-year college. The tuition for community colleges is relatively inexpensive compared to a 4-year college and many students who attend community colleges save additional money by continuing to live at home or nearby to reduce travel expenses. Since community colleges cater to working students, they usually have more flexible options for evening, weekend and online classes to help students work academics around their other activities.

In addition, a recent focus on community colleges at the Federal level has resulted in additional funding to improve facilities and provide industry-focused training for employment opportunities after graduation.

Vantage’s Work with Community Colleges

Since Vantage’s beginnings in 2001, we have worked on more than 200 projects at nearly 50 community colleges across the country.

Our technology-related projects have ranged from programming, infrastructure design, systems design, construction administration and installation oversight for new construction and renovations as well as strategic planning, RFP development, IT standards development, master planning, needs assessment and feasibility analyses for classroom upgrades and IT projects. We have provided guidance with many types of technologies including audiovisual, IT infrastructure, low voltage, digital media, videoconferencing, unified communications, wireless networking and security.

“Community colleges play a vital role in preparing students for today’s competitive job market,” said Vantage Principal Phil Crompton. “Vantage has been involved in hundreds of projects at community colleges in the 18 years since the Firm’s inception, and we are delighted to have indirectly contributed to the success of millions of community college students.”

Some of our more recent work is documented in project profiles on our website where you can get a more complete picture of our work:

Full List of All Vantage Community College Clients

  • Berkshire Community College
  • Cerritos College
  • Coastline Community College
  • College of Southern Maryland
  • College of the Desert
  • Crafton Hills College
  • East Los Angeles College
  • El Camino College
  • Golden West College
  • Hartnell Community College
  • Kern County Community College District
  • Long Beach City College
  • Long Beach Community College – Pacific Coast Campus
  • Lorain Community College
  • Los Angeles City College
  • Los Angeles Community College District
  • Los Angeles Harbor College
  • Los Angeles Mission College
  • Los Angeles Pierce College
  • Los Angeles Southwest College
  • Los Angeles Trade-Technical College
  • Los Angeles Valley College
  • Merritt College
  • MiraCosta College
  • Moreno Valley College
  • Mount San Antonio College
  • Mt. San Jacinto College
  • Napa Valley College
  • Norco College
  • Orange Coast College
  • Pasadena City College
  • Portland Community College
  • Rio Hondo College
  • Riverside Community College
  • Roxbury Community College
  • San Bernardino Valley College
  • San Joaquin Delta College
  • Santa Monica College
  • Santiago Canyon College
  • Sinclair Community College
  • Tallahassee Community College
  • Ventura County Community College
  • West Los Angeles College
  • West Valley College