We are in a time of strong national focus on the essential role that community colleges play in higher education. For thousands of Rhode Islanders, their college career begins at the Community College of Rhode Island.
More than 95 percent of CCRI's 15,000-plus students are from the Ocean State. Our students work here, raise their families here and pay taxes here. You can find our over 66,000 alumni working in medical offices, law offices, classrooms and boardrooms across our state. The rich diversity of our students is a point of pride for CCRI, and we know that Rhode Island's minority population is growing, meaning our dedication to diversity and equity must be at the center of our thinking and practice in higher education.
We know our students are hardworking, persistent and talented. By recognizing roadblocks to student success and creatively working to solve them, we are decreasing the overall cost of a college education for our students and providing them with better pathways to a degree or certificate.
We are doing this by being responsive and innovative. In my first year as president, we enhanced course scheduling to provide more flexibility, began considering more than just standardized test scores when determining whether students are college-ready, and streamlined developmental education, which so often impedes students' persistence and adds extra financial burdens. We are proud of our open-access admissions policy and our diversity, and we are committed to ensuring that college success remains attainable and affordable to all Rhode Islanders. •
