Lansing Community College

April is National Community College Month

This year’s theme is “Best Decision Ever”

By Marilyn Twine

april is #ccmonth

LANSING, Mich., April 1, 2025 — Lansing Community College is the "best decision ever," according to many who have attended the college and acquired a high-quality higher education with little or no student debt. The college is encouraging current and former students, supporters, business partners, and our community to join the 2025 Community College Month—or #CCMonth—campaign to bring attention to the value and importance of the college to our community.

#CCMonth is a grassroots education and outreach campaign coordinated by the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) across the United States every April. The primary goals of #CCmonth are to improve awareness of the economic, academic, and employment advantages of attending community colleges. The campaign also challenges the public and the media to reconsider common misconceptions about public two-year colleges.

Public community colleges are a uniquely American educational model that was designed to guarantee access to affordable, high-quality higher education for all people. They are the primary educators of life-saving nursing and other healthcare professionals among many others. They also serve as an onramp to bachelor’s, master’s, and higher-level degrees for many students, particularly for the most

demographically and socioeconomically diverse students. They guarantee fair admissions for all students. Many community colleges also provide support services for students who need them, including those who are food and housing insecure, who need childcare while attending classes, and more. And without community colleges, many American students would not be able to access higher education at all due solely to financial limitations and other inevitable barriers. 

In short, community colleges were created to serve the needs of their communities and to make good on the promise of American meritocracy, eliminating barriers faced only by disadvantaged individuals—and they do it exceptionally well.

Despite some ongoing stigma about community colleges, research from New America's annual Varying Degrees study and other sources has shown that the majority of American people hold community colleges in the highest regard among all higher education institutions with respect to being worth the cost of attendance, whether tax dollars should support them, and whether they spend their resources wisely and run efficiently.

More Americans also believe community colleges are more underfunded than other institutions, and “a majority believe that students need career-related support (88%), financial aid (87%), and academic support (85%). They also strongly believe that colleges and universities must provide more, and favor the provision of housing (82%) and food (76%) support and on-campus child care (70%),” according to the survey report. Community colleges throughout the United States provide these services so that the most disadvantaged students will have a chance at succeeding in their higher education careers.

“Everywhere I go, I am told by current and former students that choosing to go to a community college is one of the best decisions they ever made,” said ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee. “The reality is that many students don't realize this until after they attend and realize what opportunities their community college gave them, and how much their instructors at the college cared about them. Our goal is to get the message through to students before they make one of the most consequential financial decisions of their lives: choosing a college or university.”

Each year's #CCMonth campaign has made millions of impressions across social media platforms, including X, Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok, and prominent supporters have included federal agencies, former U.S. First Ladies, current and former governors, and many others. This year, organizers are encouraging students and others to take the message to their favorite online social platforms to spread the word about the importance of community colleges in cultivating skills for the future, and the unique affordability that community colleges offer to financially challenged generations.

We invite you to join in this year’s awareness campaign and go to your favorite social media platform to share why LCC is your “best decision ever” and remember to use #CCMonth and #bestdecisionever in your post!

Happy Community College Month!

 

About Lansing Community College

Lansing Community College, founded in 1957, is one of the largest community colleges in Michigan, serving more than 14,500 students across a six-county area each year. LCC offers courses in general education for those interested in transferring to a four-year institution, career and workforce development, developmental education and personal enrichment. To meet the professional development and training needs of regional employees, the college offers customized programs for credit, non-credit and continuing education. The Transfer Center at LCC offers students the opportunity to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from five partner universities on the downtown LCC campus. For more information, visit lcc.edu.

LCC provides equal opportunity for all persons and prohibits discriminatory practices based on race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, creed, ancestry, height, weight, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, familial status, marital status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, military status, veteran’s status, or other status as protected by law, or genetic information that is unrelated to the person’s ability to perform the duties of a particular job or position or participate in educational programs, courses, services or activities offered by the College.

The following individuals have been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies: Equal Opportunity Officer, Employee Title IX Coordinator, Washington Court Place, 309 N. Washington Square Lansing, MI 48933, 517-483-1730; HR Director of Total Compensation & Employment, 504/ADA, Administration Building, 610 N. Capitol Ave. Lansing, MI 48933, 517-483-1875; Associate Dean, Center for Student Support, 504/ADA, Gannon Building, 411 N. Grand Ave. Lansing, MI 48933, 517-483-1885; Director of Student Compliance, Student Title IX Coordinator, Gannon Building, 411 N. Grand Ave., Lansing, MI 48933, 517-483-9632, Director of Athletics, Deputy Title IX Coordinator, Gannon Building, 411 N. Grand Ave., Lansing, MI 48933, 517-483-1622, U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, Michigan Department of Civil Rights.

The nondiscrimination policy and grievance procedures can be located at LCC's Board Policies website. To report information about conduct that may constitute sex discrimination or make a complaint of sex discrimination under Title IX, please refer to Title IX and Sexual Misconduct Resources website.

 

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