• Social Mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students)
• Research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhD’s)
• Service (encouraging students to give something back to their country).

Nearly a third of all college undergraduates are twenty-five or older. To serve these students, the Washington Monthly ranks colleges based on factors that specifically affect adult learners.

This year’s list of best-ranked colleges for adult learners taps national data to identify schools that make it easy for students to transfer, offer flexibility in their scheduling, provide services at convenient hours, and make it possible for part-time students to succeed after they graduate.

In 2017, NVCC was ranked #38 nationwide in Washington Monthly's "Best Colleges for Adult Learners - 2 Year Colleges." 

In 2019, that ranking has risen to #25 based on these criteria:

• Ease of transfer (4 pts max) – 4
• Flexibility of programs (9 pts max) - 7
• Services for adult students (6 pts max) - 6
• % of students over age 25- 35 - 35%
• Part-time student grad rate - 20%
• Mean earnings of independent students - $40,374
• Loan repayment rate of independent students - 62%
• In-district tuition and fees - $4,316

With a relatively low, annual full-time tuition and a long list of programs that contribute to this ranking, NVCC continues to make a difference for students of all ages and income levels.

Commenting on this ranking, NVCC President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Ph.D. noted, “We are grateful for the continued national recognition of the excellent work of NVCC faculty, staff and administration. Our students are to be commended for their fortitude, perseverance and dedication as evidenced by the growing number of award completions at the college. This is a significant recognition and we are its proud recipients.”