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Last week Dr Jean Runyan, Vice President of Front Range Community College, updated us with her talk entitled “FRCC 50 Years of Successful Lives, Strong Futures”.
FRCC is part of Colorado Community Colleges and consists of (“by the numbers”), 3 campuses and 29,000 students including 52% first generation and 27% of color. Recent curriculum additions are LPN certificate, police academy and medical assistant programs.
Economic highlights included that the majority of income comes from tuition, with the state providing most of the rest. The estimated return value to the community is $590.6 million! The school currently provides more than 20 technical programs. In addition, early college education is provided on campus (Campus Select) or in local high schools (High School Select.) These programs save time for students as well as an estimated $6.5 million (college tuition) savings for students and their families while providing early entry into chosen career pathways.
The Small Business Development Center works with corporations to find workforce solutions to meet the needs of the community. A recent example of response to community needs is the soon-to-be added Highway Management degree. The Harmony Library is on campus and is a joint resource run by, and used by, the school and the local community. Particularly exciting is the Healthcare Career Center (62,00 square feet) which is currently under construction on the Harmony campus and will open this year. A BSN in nursing (the first in Larimer County) will be available for incoming students as well as recent diploma nursing student graduates. Multiple medical career tracts will be added or returned to this location (eg, MA, LPN, EMT )
Many questions were asked and answered at the end of this informative talk.