HVCC really is a ‘gem’ for Rensselaer County
Attending the 65th annual commencement at Hudson Valley Community College this past weekend reminded me just how much of a gem the two-year college is to Rensselaer County.
Growing up in the Capital Region, I never realized just how nice a community college HVCC is. I know sometimes people who attend a community college take some heat for going to “an easy” school, but I know for a fact that is not really the case.
When I graduated from high school, I knew I wanted to attend HVCC since I wanted to stay local and knew it was a perfect way to get a good education while being able to save some money on student loans.
While I attended HVCC, I didn’t really realize just how popular the college is among people out of state and out of the country.
That sunk in for me this past weekend as I was covering the commencement ceremony and hearing all the statistics about this year’s graduating class.
I couldn’t believe graduates from the Class of 2019 actually came from 40 different countries, including Afghanistan, Albania, Turkey, Mexico, Jamaica and many more. Who would have thought that people from all over the world would hear about and want to attend a community college in Troy, N.Y.
Another figure that stood out to me was how many graduates who are in the military or are veterans. 91 students from the Class of 2019 were either in the military or veterans of the military. The fact that most military members most likely could have attended many other colleges, but the fact that they chose HVCC was interesting to me as well.
One other number that always surprises me about HVCC is the age range for students graduating from there. This year, graduates from more than 80 career- and transfer- oriented program ranged in age from 17 to 62.
HVCC is the perfect place for students who are looking to transfer to another college since they are able to get their general education courses out of the way. It’s also beneficial for students majoring in a degree that only needs two years of college, such as criminal justice.
The professors there work well to prepare students for the next phase of their path, whether it be attending another college or entering the workforce.
The two-year college is also the perfect place for someone who did not attend college right out of high school, but had the ambition to do so later in life or for someone that is looking to further their studies after already graduating from college and earn another degree.
It’s also crazy to see how much the campus at HVCC continues to grow. I know within the past few years there has been a new science building built and soon a new advanced manufacturing building will be on campus.
I know many college officials and elected officials in Rensselaer County call HVCC a gem for the county and I can now understand even more as to why they believe that to be true.