Bunker Hill Community College's Learn and Earn Program Wins National Award

BOSTON – Bunker Hill Community College’s Learn and Earn Internship Program, in partnership with the program’s founding sponsor, Massachusetts Competitive Partnership (MACP), has received a national Award of Excellence in the Outstanding College/Corporate Partnership category from the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). A committee of the AACC Board of Directors cited the innovative Learn and Earn paid internship program for its exceptional work in advancing student success.

Pam Eddinger, president of Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC), accepted the award at the AACC Awards of Excellence gala on April 20 in San Antonio, TX. The AACC represents nearly 1,200 two-year associate degree-granting institutions and more than 13 million students. The Awards of Excellence program was created by AACC to celebrate the truly extraordinary — often visionary — work being done at community colleges.

“Together, we are cultivating learning excellence, creating a more competitive workforce, and inspiring social mobility,” says President Eddinger.

Working with MACP, the college launched the Learn and Earn program in 2012 with five leading corporations and 20 students. The program, which has now served 347 students, takes students into 15 of Greater Boston’s most prestigious firms, representing every major industry sector in the area. Employers have cited the benefits of working with the College’s diverse population of students, and more than 40 percent of Learn and Earn students have been offered continued work following their internships.

“Innovative programs like Learn and Earn put community colleges at the forefront of providing students with valuable skills for successful careers and providing industry with a competitive 21st-century workforce. It has been a pleasure to partner and work with Bunker Hill Community College; President Eddinger and her team have been essential in the successful implementation of the program,” says MACP Chairman Bill Swanson, who is the retired chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company. “MACP is excited to continue our partnership with Bunker Hill Community College, and we hope that this collaboration can serve as a model.”

Greater Boston corporate partners in the Learn and Earn program include Bank of America, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, BJ’s Wholesale Club, The Boston Foundation, Dovetail Health, Eaton Vance, EMC, Fidelity Investments, Liberty Mutual, Raytheon, Staples, State Street, Suffolk Construction, UBS and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The program is expected to continue to grow and add new partners. For more information, visit www.bhcc.edu/learnandearn.

About Bunker Hill Community College
Bunker Hill Community College is the largest community college in Massachusetts. The college enrolls more than 14,000 students on two campuses and at three satellite locations. BHCC is one of the most diverse institutions of higher education in Massachusetts. Sixty-seven percent of the students are people of color and more than half of BHCC’s students are women. The college also enrolls more than 850 international students who come from approximately 100 countries and speak more than 75 languages.

Featured

  • Ohio State University Opens 26-Story Hospital

    The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center recently opened in Columbus, Ohio, standing 26 stories and covering 1.9 million square feet, according to a university news release. The project marks ten years of effort and is the university’s largest single-facility construction project ever.

  • University of Illinois Moves Forward with College Sports’ Largest Digital Scoreboard

    The University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill., recently announced a series of upgrades to Gies Memorial Stadium that will include the largest scoreboard in college sports, according to a news release.

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.

  • Houston-Area High School Breaks Ground on 117,000SF Multi-Use Facility

    North Shore Senior High School, part of Galena Park ISD in Houston, Texas, recently broke ground on a new multi-use facility for student extracurriculars, according to a news release. The North Shore Multi-Use Facility will include dedicated practice and training space for the school’s athletics and fine arts programs.