Bunker Hill Community College Hosts International Exchange Students Through U.S. Department of State’s Community College Initiative Program
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) is pleased to welcome 12 international exchange students to its Charlestown Campus for the 2018-2019 academic year as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Community College Initiative (CCI) Program. The students will study Entrepreneurship, Administrative Support Specialist, Early Childhood Education and Computer Support Specialist.
Administered by Northern Virginia Community College on behalf of the Community College Consortium, the CCI Program will provide 146 participants from underserved communities with training in workforce development fields at nine U.S. community colleges in eight states. This year, CCI participants studying at BHCC are from Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, India and Indonesia.
Designed to build participants’ technical skills, enhance leadership capabilities and strengthen English language proficiency, students participate in a one-year non-degree academic program and have the opportunity 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. Since 2007, the CCI Program has hosted more than 2,900 participants from 21 countries. In 2017-2018, CCI participants contributed nearly $1M in service to local communities, while helping to internationalize community colleges in the United States (IndependentSector.org).
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About Bunker Hill Community College
Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts, enrolling approximately 18,000 students annually. BHCC has two campuses in Charlestown and Chelsea, and a number of other locations throughout the Greater Boston area. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-five percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC's students are women. The College also enrolls nearly 600 international students who come from 94 countries and speak more than 75 languages.