‘Community College in France’ summer bootcamps increase access to study abroad for underrepresented students
April 26, 2022 – The Cultural Services of the French Embassy today announced the new cohort of students for its 6th annual Community College in France summer bootcamp program. Fifty-one students from 11 states will embark on two-week sustainability-focused summer programs across France. Forty-one percent of these students will be travelling outside the country for the first time.
More than one third of U.S. undergraduate students attend community colleges. Yet fewer than 2% of students who study abroad are from community colleges. Cost and time constraints are significant barriers. Community College in France (CCF) helps overcome these barriers with high-quality, affordable, socially engaged, and responsively timed programs.
CCF started in 2017 as a pilot for 17 students, developed in partnership with France’s n+i network of top engineering schools. The program continues to grow and evolve in collaboration with major partners Lone Star College and Dallas College.
Students will participate in one of three bootcamps this summer:
- In Lyon: Urban Sustainability
- In Grenoble: Mountains in a Changing World
- In Paris: Sustainable Micro-Architecture
CCF is proud to welcome the following students to its 2022 cohort:
- Deerick Arzola-Torres, Tunxis Community College
- Arjanae Avula, Piedmont Virginia Community College
- Noor Ayache, Lone Star College Tomball
- Victoria Balkaran, Bergen Community College
- Ryan Beaver, Lone Star College
- Patrick Bernard, Piedmont Virginia Community College
- Madison Burwell, Parkland College
- Tyler Cadenas, Piedmont Virginia Community College
- Glenn Coleman, Piedmont Virginia Community College
- Leia Cottrell, Northampton Community College
- Sarah Coveney, Norco College
- Adam Dentith, Northampton Community College
- Anthea Economides, Harper College
- Krischiawn Epps, Antelope Valley College
- Antoinette Fitton, Fullerton College
- Nicholas Flores, Lone Star College – University Park
- Edward Golson, Northwestern Michigan College
- Itzel Gomez, Lone Star College at University Park
- Benjamin Harris, Fresno City College
- Corey Hemenway, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
- Kelly Hoene, Parkland College
- Julian Horner, Norco College
- Maurnie Isaacs, West Los Angeles College
- Ashley Jegou, Brookdale Community College
- Liam Kelly, Piedmont Virginia Community College
- Solome’ Lubbers, Fresno City College
- Judith Marcos, McLennan Community College
- Karen Martinez Fernandez, Lone Star College
- Cameron McNamara, Piedmont Virginia Community College
- Jacob Miller, Tunxis Community College
- Alexandra Moiseyev-Foster, Fresno City College
- Ashley Moore, Sinclair Community College
- Elizabeth Murillo, Norco College
- Thanh-Thanh Nguyen, Northampton Community College
- Shea Owens, Lorain County Community College
- Mathew Palomeque, Hostos Community College
- Jose Plascencia, Reedley College
- Jaxon Raye, Lone Star College – Kingwood
- Juan Rivera III, Bergen Community College
- Isabel Rodriguez, Lone Star College – University Park
- Jiovan Santiago, Northampton Community College
- Erica Schobert, MiraCosta Community College
- Amber Shearer, Pasadena City College
- Maia Smith, Piedmont Virginia Community College
- Kristina Stegmeier, Piedmont Virginia Community College
- Tiara Strait, Piedmont Virginia Community College
- Soualipouguini Berenger Marie Octave Tankoano, Hostos Community College
- Isabella Villanueva, College of the Canyons
- Lorenzo Waller, Northampton Community College
- Sarah Warner, Lorain County Community College
- Jordan Weth, Heartland Community College
Among these 51 students, 67% have been awarded a scholarship from the French Embassy, bringing the program fee down from $2,400 to $1,000. This fee covers: Tuition, housing, meals, local transportation and transportation from the airport.
One student said, “It has always been my dream to travel to such a historic part of the world, that also offers such exceptional opportunities and experiences. When I found out about this program, offered by the French Embassy, I was ecstatic to finally discover a bootcamp that fit my passion so perfectly.”
Another noted, “This will be my first experience in an airport, on a plane, leaving the East Coast of the United States, and leaving the country. I have seen so little of the world, but I am so eager to participate in it.”
“The challenges facing our world are global, and the solutions will be too. Community College in France does critical work connecting future problem-solvers with priceless international experience that would otherwise be out of reach,” said Gaëtan Bruel, Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy in the United States. “While levelling the playing field for students, these bootcamps also bring valuable opportunities for French schools, expanding their reach to a broad network of motivated students and American colleges.”
French institutions are increasingly interested in working with community colleges. Numerous virtual exchange projects have been developed over the course of the pandemic, and CCF’s participation has grown continuously among French and American stakeholders since its founding in 2017. Continued guidance and support from Community Colleges for International Development has been invaluable throughout the program’s history.
CCF also helps students with Associate’s Degrees transfer to French schools for either a Bachelor of Business (1 to 2 years) or a Master’s of Engineering (4 years).
About the Cultural Services of the French Embassy
The Cultural Services of the French Embassy, alongside Villa Albertine, promotes the best of French arts, literature, cinema, digital innovation, language, and higher education across the US. Based in New York City, Washington D.C., and eight other cities across the country, the Cultural Services brings artists, authors, intellectuals, and innovators to cities nationwide. It also builds partnerships between French and American artists, institutions and universities on both sides of the Atlantic. In New York, through its bookshop Albertine, it fosters French-American exchange around literature and the arts.
About n+i
The “n+i” Network is a consortium of over 50 French Grandes Ecoles d’Ingénieurs. For 15 years it has been the biggest network in France. These schools have elected to combine their international cooperation operations so as to offer a better service to foreign students.
The Network “n+i” Engineering Institutes is a not-for-profit public benefit association and addresses to students or young engineers with a degree in engineering science (BTech, BEng, BSc, BPhil, Licenciatura or equivalent). The network offers training for engineers aiming for an international career.