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1,000 Completions (And Counting) At Calbright!

By the end of 2024, Calbright hit a major milestone – awarding its 1000th certificate of completion.

“Reaching the milestone of our 1,000th awarded certificate of completion is a celebration of the hard work and dedication that our talented students and staff bring day in and day out,” said Ajita Talwalker Menon, president and CEO of Calbright College. “Each certificate represents a step towards a better future – empowering our learners, who span all corners of the state, to thrive in today’s economy. At Calbright, we are building on this momentum to expand the impact of our transformative model: Meeting learners where they are, engaging them with innovative and flexible educational experiences and support, and equipping them with skills needed to drive their success beyond the virtual classroom.” 

Of the first 1,000 certificates of completion awarded, 382 certificates were in IT Support, 283 in Customer Relationship Management Platform Administration, 174 in Data Analysis, and 130 in Cybersecurity, among other programs.

This is a big step for a six-year-old college. Calbright’s founding legislation was passed in late 2018, and it only began enrolling students in 2019. Calbright was designed to be a new kind of community college, using new approaches to support adult students from all walks of life looking to advance their careers and gain economic mobility. Its initial enrollment was therefore a small beta cohort designed to test everything from the technology Calbright was using to the innovative Competency-Based Education model implemented through its programs. The dream was that at Calbright students could study subjects that would directly lead to new and better careers, at their own pace, on their own time, wherever they are. These studies would lead to career focused certificates – which could be earned in less than a year – in skills companies are hiring for. It was a complete reimagination of higher education.

The approach was honed and fine-tuned over the first few years, taking real time results and student feedback into account and iterating on curriculum and student success endeavors, until it was clear: the Calbright model worked. Enrollment and graduations grew every year, leaping forward significantly by 2022. In 2021, 43 students graduated from Calbright. In 2022, 110 students did. In 2023, 247 students completed their studies at Calbright. In 2024, 600 students did. 

Calbright’s student body was growing just as fast: In the last month of 2021, Calbright had only 748 active students. And now, in 2025, the student body is more than 4,500 strong.

Those students are more diverse than those found at traditional higher education institutions, even community colleges: 

  • 92% of Calbright students are 25 or older, with a median age in the late 30s
  • 72% of Calbright students identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color
  • 30% of Calbright students are parents of dependent children


Data shows that those students, among the least well served by traditional colleges, benefit from completing Calbright’s programs. According to surveys:

  • 78% of students and alumni say Calbright has helped them make progress towards their personal and professional goals;
  • 85% say that they are satisfied with their experience at Calbright.

That means that a majority of Calbright graduates are getting access to better jobs and careers as a result of their Calbright journey. That’s a major milestone, and something to celebrate.

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