AACC Named No. 1
By Kathy Knotts
Anne Arundel Community College (AACC) is number one in the nation. That’s according to on a brand-new national ranking of community colleges by Academic Influence, a team of academics and data scientists providing objective, influence-based rankings for higher education. This is the organization’s first-ever rankings of two-year colleges, and AACC topped the list.
The site reviewed 839 community colleges that are fully accredited, enroll at least 1,000 students and primarily provide two-year, associate degree programs and certificate credentials. Rankings are based on the premise that the people affiliated with a school determine its quality, and use a trademarked measuring method searching open-source data from faculty, staff and alumni.
“We’re excited and humbled to be ranked number one in the country,” said Dr. Dawn Lindsay, AACC president. “It affirms the work we do and the impact that our faculty, staff, students and alumni have on our community.”
The top 10 are:
- Anne Arundel Community College
- Roxbury Community College (Massachusetts)
- Eastern Maine Community College (Maine)
- Springfield Technical Community College (Massachusetts)
- College of Marin (California)
- Los Angeles City College (California)
- Lamar Institute of Technology (Texas)
- Kennedy-King College (Illinois)
- West Kentucky Community and Technical College (Kentucky)
- Lamar State College – Port Arthur (Texas)
Other local colleges in the top 50 include Montgomery College (#11) and Baltimore City Community College (#50).
The school was also recently designated as a 2021-22 Military Friendly School for its efforts that improve the lives of veterans and military personnel. The Military Friendly program measures an institution’s ability to meet certain thresholds for student retention, graduation, job placement and more for students, specifically, student veterans. More than 1,200 schools participated in the survey and AACC was one of 747 earning the designation.