Rocklin, Calif. -Sierra College ranks as the number one Community College in California for the number of Associate Degrees awarded for the fourth year in a row. The new report, based on extensive analysis of data gathered by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, was released in the June 19, 2006 issue of ‘Community College Weekly.’
Nationally, Sierra College is ranked thirteenth overall for the second year in a row. For the number of Liberal Arts degrees awarded, Sierra is ranked number one in California and twelfth nationwide – up from second in the state and seventeenth in the nation in 2005. Sierra also excelled in the important area of Criminal Justice degrees awarded, coming in second in California and twenty-eighth nationally.
Along with providing four year university transfer students with the general education requirements they need, Sierra College also offers students the opportunity to obtain their Associate Degree or Vocational Certificate in a wide variety of fields tailored to meet the workforce needs of each community. Sierra currently offers 83 Associate Degree and 78 Certificate Programs. The U.S. Department of Education states that associate degree and one- and two-year certificate awards increased by nearly five percent over the last academic year.
In the June 2006 Community College Week article on the Top 100, Dr. Victor M.H. Borden , Associate vice chancellor at Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis, states, ‘Associate degrees and one- and two-year certificates play an important role in personal, professional, and workforce development. They represent the most feasible entrée into higher education for low income and other traditionally under-served populations. They also accommodate an increasing number of unemployed and under-employed adults that seek more stable and better paying jobs.’
 ‘These statistics from the Department of Education are a testament to the quality of the faculty, staff and programs here at Sierra College,’ commented Leo Chavez, Superintendent/President of Sierra College, ‘I am honored to be a part of this institution.’
