BATON ROUGE, LA. - Bossier Parish Community College (BPCC) and Louisiana's community and technical college's have been chosen as two of the ten national finalists for the prestigious 2018 Bellwether Award.  The Bellwether College Consortium promotes innovative and effective higher education programs that are worthy of replication at other institutions. The 10 finalists were selected from more than 100 entries from community colleges across the nation.

BPCC was selected as a finalist for their renowned Open Campus™ Open Educational Resources (OER). Open Campus is a free online platform that provides learning content in math, English, reading, science, cyber, work ethic training and more. Launched in 2013, BPCC's Open Campus is helping address a critical need in Louisiana where, of 2.3 million adults, 1.6 million lack a post-secondary credential. Students are accelerating their educational process and time to graduation by reducing the costs of a post-secondary education through mobile-friendly, on-demand access to supplemental instruction.

"Innovation, agility, and cost-effective strategies are all hallmarks of Louisiana's community and technical colleges, and the implementation of BPCC's Open Campus™ program embodies that resolute passion to reach beyond traditional solutions and better serve our community," said Dr. Rick Bateman, BPCC Chancellor.

Louisiana's community and technical colleges were selected as a finalist for its innovative adult education scholarship "5 for 6". The 5 for 6 program allows students to simultaneously obtain a high school equivalency diploma, postsecondary credential, and training to earn a high-wage, high-demand career. Through state and institutional policies, Louisiana's community and technical colleges are challenging the notion that education is a linear process and proving that second chances are real.

In one year, two-year colleges have issued 5 for 6 scholarships to approximately 400 adult education students statewide. Seventy percent of scholarship recipients have successfully passed 6 credit hours of college-level coursework, making them eligible to apply for federal financial aid.

"Congratulations to Bossier Parish Community College and Chancellor Bateman on this tremendous recognition.  By removing financial barriers for our students and giving them a second chance we are changing lives and growing Louisiana's economy," said Dr. Monty Sullivan, LCTCS President. "The success of our students is our ultimate goal."

The winners of the Bellwether Awards will be announced on January 30, 2018 at the conclusion of the Community College Futures Assembly in Orlando, Florida. The finalists will provide an hour-long presentation in front of anonymous judges, and the winners will be chosen based on those presentations and on the supplementary materials they provide.