Tom Hanks, Eileen Collins, Steve Jobs, Halle Berry, George Lucas…all famous names of people who have attended a community college.

Yet, even though these and many others have attended a community college, they are usually overlooked as a first-choice when considering higher education.

Raja Krishnaswamy is a thirteen year old who graduated in 2020 with a 4.0 GPA from the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)—Boyce Campus, earning an Associate’s Degree in Software Development and an Associates Degree in Mathematics and Sciences. Raja also took a calculus-based physics class at CCAC North and graduated with 95 credits. He is a coin collector, enjoys playing video games, and loves to read. Raja likes to learn and be challenged.

Josie Albrecht graduated from CCAC with her Associate of Arts degree in Psychology in May 2017. Her “home campus” was Allegheny Campus, but she became familiar with North and South campuses through the Honors Program and other student leadership activities. After CCAC, she transferred to Chatham University, and completed both her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (2018) and a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology (2020).

Hezreel O. Robertson studied classical piano and choral music at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)-Boyce Campus. He graduated in the spring semester of 2015 with honors and an Associate of Science Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences. That fall, Hezreel began studies at the University of Pittsburgh, and later graduated Cum Laude with a degree in Jazz Music. After Pitt, he wanted to combine his love of music and film, so he became a graduate student in Film and Digital Media at Chatham University in the Fall of 2018.

Courtney Seiler graduated from the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC)—South Campus in 2020 with her Associate's Degree in General Studies and transferring to California University (Cal U) to pursue a Bachelor's Degree in Communications, with the end goal of working as an Administrator at a Community College.

Rebekah (Bekah) Waldron studied psychology at the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC), at the North campus, and recently graduated in May 2020. She initially started her higher education journey at West Virginia University (WVU) in 2016, but when her dad passed away, she decided to stay and be near family...which ended up being the best decision for her.  

2016 International Young Scholars Workshop Studies Equity, Community Engagement: Cape Town Broadens Research and Minds