Stop #3 on my Vermont trek was lovely Champlain College, at home on a sweeping campus overlooking the lake from which it takes its name.
NECHE accredits all the Burlington, Vermont area institutions of higher education including the University of Vermont, Champlain, St. Michael’s, plus a campus of the Community College of Vermont. In fact, college students comprise one-third of the city’s population which makes Burlington one of America’s favorite college towns (and made me feel extremely old).
All of Burlington is picturesque, but with 27 acres in a residential setting, Champlain College offers its 1,700 residential students (plus an additional 1,800 online) a simply breathtaking venue.
My host for the visit was President Alex Hernandez. Like me, Alex has had a non-traditional path into higher education, beginning his career teaching high school mathematics in South Los Angeles. He then became an administrator for Portland Public Schools in Oregon, followed by a position as area superintendent for Aspire Public Schools in California where he focused on preparing students for college. His energetic and entrepreneurial leadership style led him to the Charter School Growth Fund, a national education foundation where he built the nonprofit’s Innovative Schools practice, one of the largest efforts in the country focused on personalized learning and career readiness. He then served at the University of Virginia as Dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies before being recruited to serve as President of Champlain, where clearly he feels both energized and passionate about the college’s mission.
Champlain College has crafted a well-established brand of preparing students for careers in the jobs of tomorrow. In fact, it was the first college to offer a major in Game Design, way back in 2004, and today it annually enrolls over 1,000 students in on-campus and online cybersecurity programs. In fact, every Champlain major is designed to align with fast-growing, in-demand industries and the college tries to anticipate emerging future trends.
Unlike traditional curricula that begin with general education requirements then gradually introduce major-specific courses, Champlain students may take as many as six classes in their major their first year, and intern as soon as their first summer after freshman year. In keeping with its reputation for innovation, Champlain recently announced a groundbreaking partnership with NuHarbor, a leading cybersecurity firm that will establish a NuHarbor presence on Champlain’s Lakeside campus in Burlington’s hip South End.
As a result, students will have unprecedented access to internships, mentors, hands-on learning, and scholarships. The College is building on Vermont’s strengths and expects to announce several more employer partnerships that will give its students direct access to Vermont-based businesses.
The result of this strategic ingenuity can be seen in some highlights from the class of 2023:
- Within 6 months of graduation, 86% of students were employed (83% of those in career-relevant positions) while 4% pursued a higher degree.
- The average starting salary of graduates was $56,600, and 8.5% of those who responded to the employment survey received an average sign-on bonus of $8,146.
- 55% graduated with two or more internships or experiential learning opportunities.
- 61% of those internships were paid; 39% were for course credit.
- 42% or grads remained in Vermont, while 30% moved elsewhere in the North East.
With its beautiful campus, committed leadership and innovative programs, there is simply a plethora of reasons to feel positive about Champlain’s future!