Oct. 17, 2023 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Take steps toward the future you’ve dreamed of by completing the Grand Rapids Community College enrollment process during two upcoming open houses. An open house on GRCC’s main campus is set for 9 a.m. to noon Oct. 21 in Ford Fieldhouse, 111 Lyon St. NE. A second open house will be held 10 a.m. to noon Nov. 4 at the Lakeshore Campus, 12335 James St. in Holland. Staff at the open houses can help prospective students through the entire enrollment process. Topics include: GRCC’s 12 academic pathways and more than 150 degrees. Steps to applying at GRCC. How to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as FAFSA. Financial aid options. Resources and student services offered at the main and Lakeshore campuses. Registration is encouraged but not required; you can sign up at grcc.edu/openhouse .

Oct. 16, 2023 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – – Grand Rapids Community College Nursing students are receiving an opportunity to have their final semester of tuition paid for by Mary Free Bed. Tuition will be covered for nursing students with a one-year commitment to working for the hospital after graduation. Students in GRCC’s Associate Degree and Practical Nursing programs are eligible for this new last-dollar scholarship. “Mary Free Bed has also agreed to cover the fees for the required licensing tests, which cost just over $500," said Michelle Richter, director of GRCC's Nursing program. "When our students get help with tuition, they’re able to focus on their education and ultimately are better prepared for the workplace." Benefits of the partnership will extend beyond the students and the hospital, said Maria Opoku-Agyeman, Mary Free Bed’s chief nursing officer and vice president of inpatient services.  “The creation of nurse scholar programs is a huge win for our community!” said Opoku-Agyeman, a GRCC alumna. “This partnership will allow Mary Free Bed to serve more patients, improve our care delivery, and create a more consistent talent pipeline. “This program will also allow more individuals to achieve their dream of becoming a nurse at GRCC, a highly respected organization with nursing graduates who complete licensure exams at rates above national and state averages.” The Mary Free Bed scholarship is the second scholarship created by the Grand Rapids Community College Foundation with goals of strengthening the local pipeline for nursing talent. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics warns of a nationwide registered nurse shortage, with more than 203,000 openings predicted annually through 2031. In November, the GRCC Foundation established a similar nursing scholarship program with the University of Michigan Health-West. “We are grateful that West Michigan hospitals are willing to partner with us,” said Erin Van Egmond, GRCC Foundation executive director. “These partnerships help our students achieve their dreams while supporting health care providers and the greater community.”

Oct. 12, 2023 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – A Grand Rapids Community College collaboration to prepare West Michigan’s littlest learners for academic success has received a $404,170 grant from Kent County’s Ready by Five Early Childhood millage. The First Steps Kent Commission, which administers the millage funds, awarded the grant to the GRCC Play and Learn Program. Play and Learn is an extension of GRCC’s Education program and shares strategies with parents and caregivers of children from infancy through age 5 to support them in preparing their child to be ready to succeed in school. “We share ways the adults in a child’s life can use household materials and daily routines in activities and experiences to help the child meet developmental milestones,” said Kathleen Neumann, GRCC’s child development community liaison. Play groups meet for 60 to 90 minutes, depending on the children’s ages, at the GRCC Early Childhood Learning Laboratory and several other Kent County sites. The children enjoy stimulating activities, while the caregivers learn about child development milestones as well as literacy and child guidance skills. Early Learning coaches work to reach caregivers in as many ways as possible. During the pandemic, Play and Learn staff created monthly activity bags for families to work with at home. Neumann said they proved to be so popular, especially with families who can’t always attend the play groups, that they’re now a permanent part of the program. “From June 2020 to the present, we have distributed almost 10,000 Play and Learn bags to families in Kent County,” she said. Newer additions to the program include a monthly Saturday play group as well as late afternoon and early evening play groups for working families. More information about the program, including a link to enrollment forms, is available online . This is the third consecutive grant that the GRCC Play and Learn program has received from the early childhood millage, which Kent County voters approved in 2018. First Steps Kent awarded $671,553 to GRCC in 2020 and $1 million in 2021 that was divided over 2022 and 2023.

Oct. 10, 2023 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The Grand Rapids Community College Communications team’s efforts to promote the affordable and high quality education available through GRCC earned six Gold Medallion Awards from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, an organization representing community colleges in the United States and Canada.  GRCC earned a Gold Medallion Award in each of the following categories: Booklet for the 2023 Commencement Program Notes/Cards/Invitations for the Armen Oumedian Consecutive Giving Club Impact Report Interior Signage/Display for design and signage for Foodology, Quiet Cafe,  Heritage Restaurant, and Secchia Piazza Excellence in Writing - Short Form for a story about Safinaz Karaein and how she overcame obstacles to earn her GRCC degree Logo Wear for a T-shirt design for the National Junior College Athletic Association 2022 Region XII Cross Country Tournament Novelty for a “La Cerveza del Presidente” design used on glasses at the GRCC Foundation’s Scholarfest honoring President Emeritus Juan R. Olivarez and Mary Olivarez GRCC also earned a Silver Medallion in the Social Media Page category and Bronze Medallions in the Print Wild Card, Podcast, and Special Event or Fundraising categories during the October 4 awards ceremony. “The GRCC Communications team consistently earns recognition for its design, writing, and communications work,” Associate Communications Director Amy Soper said. “It’s an honor to use our creativity and expertise to tell the story of the high-quality, life-changing education GRCC offers.” NCMPR’s Medallion Awards recognize outstanding achievement in design and communication at community and technical colleges in each of its seven districts. GRCC is in District 3, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and the Canadian province of Ontario.  The NCMPR Medallion Awards is the only competition of its kind that honors excellence among marketing and public relations professionals at two-year colleges.

Oct. 9, 2023 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – The total economic impact created by Grand Rapids Community College  in 2020-21 was $1 billion, according to a new study commissioned by the college. That includes an operations spending impact of $110.2 million, construction spending impact of $7.3 million, student spending impact of $31.9 million and alumni impact of $898.4 million. “The Economic Value of the Grand Rapids Community College,” by Lightcast, broke down GRCC’s impact in Kent and Ottawa counties and the results were significant in both. GRCC President Charles Lepper, nearing the end of one year on the job, was pleased to see the findings. He said the results demonstrate that GRCC is a strong investment for students, taxpayers and society. “GRCC creates value from multiple perspectives,” he said. “We generate more in tax revenue than we receive which is significant. But beyond that, GRCC plays a key role in helping students increase their employability and achieve their individual potential. The college draws students to the region, generating new dollars and opportunities. And GRCC provides students with the education, training and skills they need to have fulfilling and prosperous careers.” GRCC benefits regional businesses by increasing consumer spending in the region and supplying a steady flow of qualified, trained workers to the workforce, Lightcast said. It also determined that the college enriches the lives of students by raising their lifetime earnings and helping them achieve their individual potential. The college also benefits state and local taxpayers through increased tax receipts and a reduced demand for government-supported social services and benefits society as a whole in Michigan by creating a more prosperous economy and generating a variety of savings through the improved lifestyles of students. Altogether, Lightcast found that the social benefits of GRCC equal a present value of $2.8 billion. These benefits include $1.9 billion in added student income, $760.8 million in added business income, $131.2 million in added income from college activities, as well as $58.5 million in social savings related to health, the justice system, and income assistance in Michigan. “People in Michigan invested a present value total of $192.2 million in GRCC in fiscal year 2020-21,” Lepper noted. “That means for every dollar invested in GRCC, people in Michigan will receive a cumulative value of $14.80 in benefits.” Lepper added that an interesting aspect of Lightcast’s findings was that society as a whole in Michigan benefits from the presence of GRCC in two major ways. Primarily, he said, society benefits from an increased economic base in the state. This is attributed to the added income from students’ increased lifetime earnings (added student income) and increased business output (added business income), which raises economic prosperity in Michigan. But benefits to society also consist of the savings generated by the improved lifestyles of GRCC students (education is statistically correlated with a variety of lifestyle changes that generate social savings). In 2020-21, GRCC served 19,836 credit and 11,394 non-credit students. Those students will receive a stream of higher future earnings that will continue to grow throughout their working lives. For example, the average GRCC associate degree graduate from 2020-21 will see annual earnings that are $9,600 higher than a person with a high school diploma or equivalent. In addition, around 18% of credit students attending GRCC originated from outside the region in 2020-21 and some of those students stayed, adding new talent to the area. In 2020-21, the college employed 1,338 full-time and part-time faculty and staff, all of whom lived in the GRCC Service Region. Total payroll at GRCC was $91.6 million, much of which was spent in the region for groceries, mortgage and rent payments, dining out and other household expenses. The college also spent $57.3 million on day-to-day expenses related to facilities, supplies, and professional services. Grand Rapids Community College has been offering educational opportunities in West Michigan for more than 100 years. Established in 1914, the college offers degree courses, certification and training programs, and workshops and personal enrichment classes. Offerings are held on GRCC’s downtown Grand Rapids campus, and at several locations throughout Kent and Ottawa counties, as well as through distance learning.