Jesse Gallegos
Public Relations Coordinator
Luna Community College
Jan. 3, 2021
By Dave Kavanaugh
Luna Community College
A pair of independent national websites have recently recognized Luna Community College in their most recent rankings of higher education institutions.
Intelligent.com ranked Luna’s online associate degree in business administration No. 3 among all such programs reviewed for 2022. In addition to its national ranking for overall quality with a score of 96.25, Luna was found to be the most affordable among the 224 colleges reviewed by Intelligent.com.
The website also ranked Luna among the top 10 community colleges in New Mexico with a score of 86.98. The ranking additionally recognized Luna as being “Best for Early Childhood Education” among the schools reviewed.
Intelligent.com, based in Seattle, describes itself as a privately funded and editorially independent website. To calculate the scores used in its rankings, the Intelligent.com team said it evaluated each of them based on “reputation, cost, course strength and flexibility.” Initial criteria were that colleges were non-profit, accredited, and offering flexible delivery of courses.
“Our picks are highly regarded, economical, and equipped with the tools to teach their given degree,” according to the site. “Luna Community College offers flexible distance learning that appeals to busy adults or hybrid models that include on-campus and online formats,” stated a release from Intelligent.com. “Experts at Intelligent.com assessed programs that help students enhance and develop advanced skills for a variety of in-demand positions.”
“Studies show that obtaining a degree increases income substantially, degree holders earning 84 percent more than those with only high school diplomas or those without a completed GED. The percentage difference in earnings continues to grow with higher learning degrees such as master’s, doctoral or professional degrees, with the unemployment rate decreasing to as much as 1.1 percent for those with a doctorate.”
Another site, University HQ, has also rated Luna among its Best Associate Degrees in New Mexico, ranking the college in the top 20 of schools reviewed for 2022.
“New Mexico’s community colleges are an invaluable part of the state’s economy,” the announcement from University HQ noted. “They provide two-year associate degrees in a variety of subjects that launch careers in fields such as health care, accounting, engineering, and business. In fact, some of the best colleges in the state of New Mexico are community colleges.”
Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., University HQ reported that it used data collected primarily from government agency sites, considering the factors of tuition cost, admission rate, retention rate, graduation rate, graduates’ salaries, total programs offered, online programs offered, loan default rate, diplomas awarded and percentage of students receiving financial aid.
Luna is currently enrolling students for the Spring 2022 semester, which begins on Jan. 18. The last day to register is Jan. 25. For more information, please visit LUNA.edu.
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