Valencia College News

Valencia Film Celebration to Unveil Two Student-Made Films

The 17th Annual Valencia Film Celebration will be held Feb. 16 and 17 and will showcase two feature-length films produced by...

‘A Raisin in the Sun’ Coming to Valencia

Valencia College Theater will present the Lorraine Hansberry modern classic, “A Raisin in the Sun,” on February 15-19 and 22-26. Curtain...

Take Stock in Children to Provide Opportunities to 22 Children

On Thursday, Feb. 9, Take Stock in Children of Orange County will hold a ceremony to recognize and celebrate its new...

Annual Osceola Art Festival to be held Feb. 11-12 at Osceola Campus

The Osceola Center for the Arts will present the 45th Annual Osceola Art Festival on Feb. 11 and 12 at Valencia...

Valencia Hosts Annual Brazilian Film Festival

Valencia College will kick off its Brazilian Film Festival on Feb. 9 with the showing of the comedy “De Pernas pro...

Need Money for College? FAFSA Experts Will Help Walk You Through the Steps

More and more students need financial aid to pay for college. Simplifying the process is the purpose of a month-long event...

Valencia on National Public Radio for Worker Retraining

In the lead up to Florida’s primary, job training for unemployed people has become a point of debate among the presidential...

Women Behind Liberia’s Peace Movement Inspire Students, Faculty

The scenes were heartbreaking. Little boys carrying guns, bragging about how many people they’d killed. Children on crutches, missing limbs that had...

Beyond the Dream: Bernice King Urges Students to Reclaim Her Father’s Cause

Dr. Bernice King paid tribute to her famous father and, drawing from his most celebrated speech, encouraged the hundreds of students, college staff and visitors who gathered today to hear her on Valencia's East Campus to "move beyond the dream." King’s presentation, titled “Raising the Standard,” was meant as a call to action—especially to students—to become more civically engaged in their communities and the world. King drew laughter from the crowd when she explained the reason why the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C. didn't have the "I have a dream" speech inscribed on it and instead features another one of his speeches: "Even God was sick and tired of hearing 'I have a dream' and wanted the world to get on with the rest of [King's] ideas," she said. Those ideas, she said, have to do with sacrifice, calling it "an uncomfortable word in this generation." She said students need to find some time to make a difference in the lives of others rather than focusing solely on personal gain. Speaking of "systems crashing, the environment in danger," and widespread poverty, she said, "I'm here to wake some people up, because we are in the most critical time in our history." She added, "I also know that we can change this if there are young people who take serious the fact that you've been placed on this earth for a reason--beyond your own individualistic concerns." King said the biggest challenge society faces is not injustice but complacency. She said her father read the dictionary as a child, entered college by age 15 and graduated at 19, and that he was driven "not to waste a moment, not knowing what his life would end up being." She acknowledged the gains made over the last five decades in addressing racial inequalities, but said that it was up to today's youth to ensure that the freedoms won by previous generations were preserved. Speaking for almost an hour and touching on wide-ranging topics from the occupy movement ("Thank God there is a movement"), to the uprising in Egypt, to the student loan debt crisis, the speaker, author and minister said, "We have given over our power to institutions...corporations. And it gives us a personal excuse to not be involved in the problems of the world." She urged students to not only vote during election cycles but to take their concerns directly to elected officials, to organize around a cause and to even become agitators in an effort to bring about "systemic change." "You know what's missing in our nation's capital? It's the voice of your generation," she said.

Valencia Professors, Students to Offer Free Tax Help

Valencia College accounting students and professors will be offering free tax help to the public on Fridays and Saturdays during February,...

Liberian Film, Author and Children’s Art Give Lessons on Compassion

On January 26, Valencia College, in partnership with the Global Peace Film Festival, will screen the documentary film, “Pray the Devil...

Two New Trustees Join Valencia’s Governing Board

Governor Rick Scott named two new members to Valencia College’s District Board of Trustees: Guillermo Hansen, who is the publisher and...

Sen. Marco Rubio Holds Hispanic Town Hall Meeting at Valencia

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) held a town hall meeting at Valencia College's Criminal Justice Institute on Wednesday, Jan. 11., where he took questions from and spoke with members of Central Florida's Hispanic community. The event, titled "Cafe con U.S. Senator Marco Rubio: A conversation with Central Florida’s Hispanic Community," was designed to give Sen. Rubio the opportunity to have a dialogue with Central Florida’s Hispanic community. The audience members included business leaders and community leaders from the area's Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Colombian, Brazilian and Costa Rican communities.

Orlando Declares Monday ‘Valencia College Day’

In honor of Valencia College winning the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the Orlando City Commission on Jan. 9 paid tribute to the college that has been recognized as being the top two-year college in the nation. “They were not named one of the best community colleges in the nation, but the best, number one community college in the entire nation,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said, proclaiming that Jan. 9 would be recognized as Valencia College Day in the city of Orlando. Last month, Valencia was named the winner of the inaugural Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence at a ceremony held in Washington, D.C. The award comes with $600,000 in prize money. During Monday's city commission meeting, Dyer and members of the commission said the nation is finally discovering what they’ve known for a long time: the excellent reputation of Valencia. “Congratulations to Valencia College,” said Commissioner Samuel B. Ings. “It was Valencia Community College when I was there and graduated from Valencia in the 1970s. It was really great that the Aspen institute recognized the great things they’re doing.” Ings noted that Valencia prepares a lot of minority students for the job market and helps them find employment as they near graduation. “They really do move a lot of students along, particularly African-Americans,” Ings said. Several members of the Valencia College staff attended the city commission meeting to hear Mayor Dyer read the proclamation, including Valencia President Sandy Shugart, who said his staff was deeply proud of the honor awarded by the Aspen Institute, and equally proud to be serving the Orlando community. “A great college like Valencia College is only as good as the community we’re in,” Shugart said. “We’re grateful for that honor and that support.” Dyer said the Aspen recognition is valuable to the city's business leaders too. In a recent meeting to discuss economic development efforts in the city of Orlando, business leaders said one key to the city’s future growth will be having well-educated students and college graduates, Dyer said. “They talk about education being one of the most critical components,” Dyer said. He noted that Valencia College has a wide curriculum, offering 700 courses each semester, and that the college “produces more associates degrees each semester than any other community college in the nation.” These courses, Dyer said, “link students to well paying jobs” both in Orlando and other parts of Florida and the nation. Commissioner Daisy W. Lynum also noted that those courses have first-rate reputations as well. “It’s real good to stand for intelligence and brilliance in education,” she said.

Valencia Helps Bring Professional Opera Back to Orlando

Valencia College has partnered with Orlando-based Florida Opera Theatre, along with opera companies in St. Augustine and Vero Beach, to bring...

Valencia to Display Exhibit of Post-Katrina Artwork from New Orleans

Orlando, FL – The Anita S. Wooten Gallery at Valencia College will display a collection of black-and-white prints by New Orleans...

Achieving the Dream President Congratulates Valencia on Aspen Prize

The following statement was released by William E. Trueheart, president and CEO of Achieving the Dream Inc., a national nonprofit...

Gov. Rick Scott Congratulates Valencia on Winning Aspen Prize

Statement from Governor Rick Scott Congratulating Florida Community Colleges for Winning National Recognition Tallahassee, Fla. – “I want to congratulate...

Trustees Celebrate Aspen Prize Win, Review Funding Data

One day after Valencia College won the 2011 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the college's board of trustees celebrated the win -- and began planning for next year's budget.

Valencia's president, Dr. Sanford Shugart, told the trustees that Gov. Rick Scott appears ready to fund the state colleges budgets at last year's levels, as long as the colleges don't raise tuition. To prepare the trustees for the upcoming legislative session and budget discussions, Keith Houck, vice president of administrative services, presented the college's financial indicators report. The report includes detailed information on the college's revenues, expenses, facilities and return on investment. The report noted that state funding for Valencia has dropped from nearly 60 percent of the college's revenue in 2001-02 to 40 percent of the college's total revenue in 2010-11. As state funding has decreased, Dr. Shugart noted that the college has tried to streamline costs, but has been forced to raise tuition to make up the difference. In 2011-12, Valencia received only $4,119 for each "full-time equivalent" -- the number of credit-hours for one full-time student. "We get less dollars per student than any other college in the state of Florida, except Edison (State College)," Houck said. In addition, Valencia ranks at the bottom of the list of state colleges, based on the amount of building space per student. In 2010, Valencia had almost 75 square feet of space per student, compared to Chipola Community College, which had almost 310 square feet of space per student. Nearby Brevard Community College has almost 156 square feet of space per student, while St. Petersburg College has 142.6 square feet per student. "We are 'facility poor,'" Shugart said, noting that Valencia's crunch on classroom space doesn't give the college room to provide some services that other two-year colleges in the state offer, such as a small-business incubator or lab space for specialized science labs. The funding inequities, however, have forced Valencia to become efficient, producing graduates for less money than most of the state's two-year colleges spend. In 2010, Valencia spent $21,635 for every graduate, while Daytona State College spent $42, 344 per graduate, and Hillsborough Community College spent $38, 094 per graduate. Valencia also spent less educating each graduate than Miami-Dade College ($29,393) and Broward College ($28,664). In other business, the trustees approved allocating an extra $300,000 for the contruction of Building 10 at Valencia's West Campus. The building was originally projected to cost $13 million, but Valencia officials asked the trustees for permission to spend an additional $300,000 to install a high-efficiency air conditioning system for the buildling, which will be more efficient than a separate air-handling system for the building.

Valencia Named Top Community College in Nation

Valencia Wins 2011 Aspen Prize for Focus on College Completion, Job Preparation Valencia College learned today that it won the inaugural Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. Announced in a ceremony held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., the award comes with $600,000 in prize money. "It is such a privilege to represent my colleagues and the hundreds of community colleges across the country that have done amazing work for years and years," said Dr. Sanford Shugart, president of Valencia College. "The whole country is looking to us these days, it seems. The nation has discovered that we have this unique instrument at hand. We are institutions where excellence is not defined by exclusivity." "This award embodies the idea that community colleges are incredibly important; important to the future of this great country, of course, important to our education system and our economy," said Richard Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education and former governor of South Carolina. "The prize is also highlighting which community colleges best show us the way to moving beyond extraordinary access to exceptional levels of student success. That’s something we need all community colleges to do nationally." In a competitive year-long process, the Aspen Institute, along with a panel of some of the biggest names in higher education, selected Valencia and four runners-up from a preliminary list of 120 “top” community colleges in the nation, based on student performance and graduation data collected by the U.S. Department of Education. The runners-up include community colleges from around the country, including Miami-Dade College, Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, S.D., Walla Walla Community College in Walla Walla, Wash., and Western Kentucky Community and Technical College in Paducah, Ky.

“Valencia College has proven that devotion to assessment yields results,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program. “The college is an engine for employment in Central Florida, and a model for the country.”

"Community colleges are America’s best kept secret," said Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden and a community college professor. "Excellence happens every day in community college classrooms and campuses across this country...Congratulations to Valencia College and all the finalists. Your commitment to your students is an inspiration to all of us." In selecting Valencia as the best community college in America, Aspen officials noted that over half of the college’s full-time students graduate or transfer within three years of entering the school, a rate significantly higher than the national average (51 percent versus 39 percent). At a time when data show an increasing number of students nationwide are not ready for college-level work – and that the U.S has slipped to 12^thglobally in the percentage of young adults who hold at least an associate degree – Valencia is experiencing rising graduation rates among all students, including minorities.

Valencia has experienced dramatic increases in graduation rates among college-ready African American students, nearly tripling in the last decade from 15.4 percent to 44.3 percent today.

Graduation rates for college-ready Hispanic students have similarly impressive gains, jumping from 38.7 to 45.5 percent in the last decade.

Because community colleges also train students for the workforce, Aspen judges focused on the college’s workforce training programs and the likelihood of graduates landing jobs. They noted that Valencia graduates “are employed at rates higher than graduates from any of the other 10 Aspen Prize finalists. This is especially impressive given the region’s unusually high unemployment rate and low job growth rate.” This is not the first time that Valencia has made national news. In November, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named Valencia ESL professor James May the 2011 Florida Professor of the Year. May was one of only 27 state professors selected to represent the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country. In 2009, Valencia won the inaugural Leah Meyer Austin Institutional Student Success Leadership Award for helping minority students succeed. In 2007, the New York Times named Valencia as one of the nation’s leading community colleges, and in 2001, Valencia was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the nation’s best schools at helping first-year students excel. Valencia’s innovations include:

LifeMap, launched in 1998, empowers students to chart their own paths through college to achieve career and life goals through connections with advisors, faculty, staff and interactive tools.
Supplemental Learning, which bolsters traditional courses with small-group study sessions, led by a student who has already successfully taken the class. Since 2006, almost 32,000 students have taken SL courses – one of the largest scale learning experiments to ever take place in a U.S. community college.
Bridges to Success, which offers disadvantaged high school students free tuition if they enroll in Valencia immediately after high school graduation, keep their grades up and participate in Bridges activities.
DirectConnect to UCF, which has streamlined the admissions, financial aid, advising and transfer processes for Valencia students continuing their education at UCF.

Founded in 1967, Valencia College operates six campuses and centers in Central Florida’s Orange and Osceola counties, offering credit and continuing education programs. The college has more than 70,000 students and more than 80,000 students have earned degrees at Valencia since its founding. Click here to view the full media kit.