Education

Madera Community College Wins Lumina’s Million Dollar Community College Challenge


The Lumina Foundation announced on Wednesday that Madera Community College had won the $1 million grand prize in The Million Dollar Community College Challenge.

Located in Madera, California, Madera Community College serves about 7,000 students annually; in July 2020, it became the 116th campus in California’s community college system.

Lumina launched the Challenge in February as a national grant competition intended to help community colleges improve their marketing and build stronger brands. It’s another initiative from the Indianapolis-based foundation aimed at helping community colleges to boost their appeal, relevance and connections, particularly with adult students.

Following several consecutive years of declining enrollments in the community college sector, a trend exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and an unusually tight labor market, Lumina concluded that community colleges needed to find new ways to connect with the millions of Americans who need a college degree or short-term credential to be competitive in the job market.

For too long, community colleges have relied largely on two standard messages to attract students – that they are more affordable than four-year institutions, and that they offer open enrollment for most of their academic programs.

Because those messages appeared to not be resonating sufficiently with prospective students – particularly working-age adults – Lumina created a competition to spur community colleges to reach beyond their traditional efforts and think more strategically about how to build their brands and structure their marketing efforts around new themes.

Hence the Challenge, which gave community colleges a chance to expand campus-to-community connections and promote their value for adult students.

Lumina officials described the Challenge this way: “When making college choices, reputation matters. People want to attend a college they’ve heard of and are excited about, a place they can tell their family about. Community colleges are often the practical choice, but they can also be the first choice. The case for affordability and flexibility has been made, but what about the success of their graduates, the unique programs offered, and the fun events hosted on campus? It’s important for community colleges to tout what makes them unique; what makes them the place that students are proud to tell their friends and family about,” said Lumina Foundation Strategy Officer Mary Laphen Pope.

In April, 10 finalists were announced, from a pool of hundreds of applicants. Each of the finalists was required to submit a video that describes their unique approach to engaging students.

Madera Community College’s video presented the college’s promise to adult students. It included testimony about the adult student experience through the narration of a former student and was filmed and edited by a current student.

According to Lumina officials, Madera plans to use its grant funds to advance four focus areas:

  1. Creating physical spaces on campus that celebrate the region’s heritage and cultural experience;
  2. Establishing signature community events to embrace adult students, their families, and community partners;
  3. Improving processes that bring to life the concept of pertenencia (”belonging”) at every point on a student’s college journey;
  4. Building community pride in the college.

All the finalist videos can be viewed here.

In addition to Madera Community College’s Grand Prize, nine runner-up institutions received $100,000 each. They were:

  • Community College of Rhode Island
  • College of Eastern Idaho
  • Houston Community College
  • Great Falls College Montana State University
  • County College of Morris
  • Long Beach City College
  • Northwest-Shoals Community College
  • Minnesota State College Southeast
  • Madison Area Technical College

All ten finalists also will receive technical assistance to develop their brand strategy and digital marketing. The goal is to provide more than a one-time pulse of funds. Instead, the focus is on developing comprehensive, sustainable strategies that will help colleges connect better to their local community and strengthen their long-term appeal to adult learners.



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