Bunker Hill Community College Hosts International Exchange Students Through U.S. Department of State’s Community College Initiative Program
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is pleased to be one of ten campuses across eight states to welcome international exchange participants to campus for the 2017-2018 academic year as part of the Community College Initiative (CCI) Program. The students will study Early Childhood Education, Fire and Safety and Entrepreneurship.
Administered by Northern Virginia Community College on behalf of the Community College Consortium, the U.S. Department of State’s CCI Program is designed to build participants’ technical skills, enhance leadership capabilities and strengthen English language proficiency.
Each student participates in a one-year non-degree academic program in workforce development fields at a U.S. community college with opportunities to participate in professional internships, service learning and community engagement activities to forge relationships with citizens of the United States and other countries.
Participants return home with a deeper understanding of U.S. culture and with improved technical and vocational skills to contribute to the economic development of their home communities. In 2016-2017, CCI participants contributed nearly $1.3 million in service to local communities, while helping to internationalize community colleges in the United States (IndependentSector.org).
Now in its tenth year, the CCI Program has hosted more than 2,800 participants from 21 countries. This year’s participants are from Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Dominican Republic, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey. Participants are recruited from underserved and underrepresented communities, particularly women.
For further information, please contact the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at eca-press@state.gov.
Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The College enrolls more than 14,000 students on two campuses and at three satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-four percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls nearly 1000 international students who come from 107 countries and speak more than 75 languages.
Media Contact:
About Bunker Hill Community College
Celebrating 50 years of excellence, Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is Massachusetts' largest community college, annually welcoming a diverse community of around 16,000 students. With campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, BHCC extends its reach across several locations in Greater Boston. BHCC is celebrated for its diversity, boasting a student body where 65% identify as people of color and more than half are women. The College also embraces a global perspective, with over 600 international students representing 90 countries and conversing in more than 65 languages. Our commitment to diversity is further reflected in BHCC's designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI).