BCC to graduate 1,938 students June 17

BELLEVUE, WASH.– Bellevue Community College (BCC) will award 1,938 degrees and certificates in commencement ceremonies Friday, June 17.

Artist and author Barbara Earl Thomas will be the keynote speaker for the ceremonies, which begin at 7 p.m. in the BCC gymnasium.

The event will be broadcast live over the BCC’s College Channel (Comcast Cable Channel 28).

More than two-thirds of this year’s class is made up of graduates who are receiving Associate degrees designed to prepare them to continue their education at four-year colleges and universities. In recent years BCC has transferred more students to four-year institutions – primarily the University of Washington but also including universities such as Stanford and Columbia – than any other community college in the state.

Other graduates have earned Associate degrees or certificates from programs designed to help them enter the workforce immediately in areas such as health science, business, early childhood education, information technology, fire science and interior design, among others.

The graduating class includes students as young as 17 and as old as 62. The average age is 27, indicating a large number of older students in addition to the “traditional” student who goes to college shortly after high school.

A total of 574 students are graduating with honors (a 3.5 grade point average or better), 21 with perfect 4.0 averages.

Seventy-six of the graduates took part in the Running Start program, which gives high school students an opportunity to take college classes to get a head start on their college education.

One hundred-twelve of the graduates are international students from countries other than the U.S.

In a sign of the impact of new technology on education, more than half of the graduating students have taken at least a portion of their studies on-line – an increasingly popular option that offers access to education from remote locations and allows students to arrange their class schedule around work and other commitments.

###