Schooling in Bermuda can be an insular experience. Students often graduate from high school with the same cohort of schoolmates that they have shared classes with since kindergarten.
That familiarity, plus living in the family home with all its benefits, can make an immediate transition to university overseas somewhat jarring.
It can also be overwhelming to live somewhere new, with the distractions that a fresh city and friendships can present – and there’s even the initial challenge of figuring out how to travel to and from campus.
Fortunately, Bermuda College offers students the perfect stepping stone between high school and university, giving young people the chance to improve their levels of independence before making the leap overseas.
Tyson Flood, recruitment officer in the Vice President’s Office of Student Affairs at Bermuda College, said students enrolled in an associate’s degree programme learn what is expected of them at the post-secondary level.
“When you’re in high school, you have homework, and you may have that teacher who gives you a detention if you don’t complete it.
“However, in college, you have to manage your time more and you don’t have someone telling you that you need to take this step, or that step. You don’t have your parents there, either, who maybe take you to school every day.
“By attending Bermuda College, you enter a new education structure with college-level courses and you’re able to become more comfortable and familiarise yourself with doing that college level of study.”
The College offers 19 associate degree programmes, including a variety of bachelor’s degree disciplines, and has 40 transfer partners in Canada, Britain, the United States and Caribbean, overseas schools that recognise the College’s status as an accredited institution and consequently accept credits, often one-to-one, for students who have completed a two-year associate’s degree.
Mr Flood said: “Our partner institutions, the schools that our students go on to have stated that they received a more capable student after they leave Bermuda College.”
He said a student who has designs on a bachelor’s degree programme overseas can transfer directly into the bachelor’s degree phase at a partner institution upon completion of the associate degree.
For overseas institutions that are not partners, students should determine what pre-requisites are required for admission. That’s true even where the full course of study overseas isn’t exactly in line with the College’s offerings.
“If someone chooses to take a more custom path, and they have identified an institution they want to attend overseas, they can identify the courses they need to take here first.
“A great example is Tariq Lynch-Wade, the Bermudian pilot at BermudAir. He was able to structure a foundation at Bermuda College that he needed to go on and pursue a degree so that he could become a pilot.”
Students at Bermuda College can also seek the assistance of professors and counsellors, who can offer educational and career guidance and support.
Mr Flood said: “Our teachers are invested in our students, and they have a network that can put students in touch with people who can give advice about certain professions they are interested in. They may have even attended a certain institution and be able to tell the student what to expect.
“Our counsellors can help students realise their capabilities and help them get in contact with other institutions through their relationships with associates at those schools. Overseas schools come to the College to recruit students so I would encourage students to attend the presentations they give.”
The College’s employment co-ordinator organises career fairs, networking mixers and other professional development events.
“Those events have connected our students with employers and industry leaders and created meaningful opportunities that have led to internships and full-time job placements,” Mr Flood said.
“Sometimes, those organisations will pay for the student to earn their bachelor’s degree. Had the student gone overseas right after high school, they would not have had that exposure.
“What our counsellors and teachers do to support our students puts the ‘community’ into ‘community college’. They really try to show our students the reality, what to expect, and the best ways forward.”
Tuition at the College runs about $5,600, which compares with about $11,000 in the UK at the home student rate, $19,000 in Canada, and $23,000 in the US.
Students who post a grade point average of 2.5 or higher get their tuition costs waived under Government’s College Promise programme.
It all adds up to Bermuda College being an ideal next step after high school.
