Meeting Students Where They Dream
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National Student Parent Docuseries
HCC is honored to be featured in the documentary series “Raising Up,” which examines student parents and the mutual efforts between scholars, their families, and their institutions to make higher education more attainable. The series follows four student parents on their post-secondary journey, with each installment diving more deeply into the issues the student encounters with childcare, affordable housing, mental health, and workforce pathways.
Abigail Bediako, HCC student parent and spring 2024 graduate, is featured in the series along with HCC President Daria J. Willis. Ascend at the Aspen Institute produced the inspiring docuseries.
Accelerated Pathways (7-week Courses)
Starting this fall, HCC will introduce Accelerated Pathways courses, which are condensed 7-week classes. These accelerated courses offer a faster alternative to traditional semester-long classes, enabling students to complete their degrees more quickly. Many of these courses are available online or remotely, providing flexibility for students to integrate their educational goals and balance their studies with work, internships, extracurricular activities, family time, and other personal commitments.
In addition to the flexible format of 7-week courses, the benefits of enrolling in accelerated courses are numerous. Speeding up their academic progress will help students save on costs and allocate more financial aid to their next steps. Completing standard semester material in just 7 weeks increases the efficiency of earning a degree, allowing students to enter the workforce or pursue advanced studies sooner. Focusing on fewer courses at a time, a student’s cognitive load is reduced, and they gain stronger relationships with faculty and peers.
Student Advocacy Day
In February, HCC students traveled to Annapolis for Student Advocacy Day 2024, an annual statewide event where participants from Maryland’s 16 community colleges meet with legislators to advocate for community college funding. During the event, the students had several engaging meetings with legislators, sharing personal stories and advocating for equitable funding for two-year colleges to support services and cohort programs. It was a rewarding experience, described by many participants and staff as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The group of 13 returned to HCC feeling confident that they were well represented and that their voices were heard.
Achieving the Dream
Howard Community College is one of eight institutions to join the Achieving the Dream (ATD) Network, a national organization seeking reforms in higher education to expand student success. HCC is one of two Maryland community colleges selected for a three-year program to enhance campus capacity in student support, leadership development, and data integration in programming.
Achieving the Dream partners nationally with more than 300 community colleges to deploy executive coaching, K-12 partnership frameworks, and strategic planning to support student experience and completion. The network’s approach is designed to create equitable, antiracist, and economically vibrant communities around institutions.