[Opinion column written by Dr David Sam]
Two recent developments at Bermuda College give us reason to celebrate. We have secured continued accreditation without conditions, with our next comprehensive evaluation scheduled for ten years’ time. Student enrolment has risen for a third consecutive year.
Both matter. But the more important question is what they mean for Bermuda, and what we do next.
A community college should never measure its worth solely by the qualifications it awards or the numbers who walk through its doors. It must help young people find their direction, give adults opportunities to start again, and equip workers as industries change. That is the standard by which Bermuda College should be judged.
The New England Commission of Higher Education continued our institutional accreditation following a College-wide self-study and external team visit in February 2026. It required no special monitoring, corrective action or additional reporting as a condition of the decision, beyond normal ongoing requirements.
For students and families, this independent scrutiny provides assurance that the College meets recognised institutional standards. It matters to employers and partners, too.
Accreditation, however, is not a declaration that everything is perfect. Nor should the prospect of another comprehensive review in ten years make us comfortable. Quality must be demonstrated in the classroom, in student support and in the decisions we make every day.
The enrolment figures deserve the same balanced assessment. Our final autumn census records 616 students, compared with 592 last year, 565 in 2024 and 552 in 2023. That steady rise is encouraging.
Nevertheless, we remain below the 687 students recorded in autumn 2020. A growing headcount cannot tell us whether we are meeting every need, or whether students complete their studies and achieve their goals.
The detail behind those figures helps explain why our community mission matters. Allied Health enrolment increased from 42 to 62, while Arts & Science reached 223 students and Business 162. Nursing remained at 24.
These pathways serve different ambitions and skills needs. An island cannot rely on a single profession, a single industry or a single route into employment.
We must also be candid about where enrolment has fallen. Technical Education recorded 85 students, compared with 89 a year earlier, while Hospitality declined from 40 to 30. Neither area becomes less important simply because its numbers are smaller. We must respond, and we will: the planning for this is in-hand.
And the traditional student population is only part of the picture.
Through our Athora Division of Professional and Career Education, APACE, participation in spring 2026 reached 522, up from 349 a year earlier. These participation figures are separate from the autumn student census, but they illustrate an important point: education does not end when someone first enters the workforce.
A community college should offer a realistic route forward for people seeking qualifications, adapting at work or simply wanting to learn. Academic study, technical training, professional development, reskilling and upskilling are not competing missions. They belong together.
Too often, education is described as a ladder climbed only once, early in life. In reality, people need chances to return after a break, change direction, or build on experience they already have.
When I came to Bermuda in August 2024, I understood that the College had a proud history and a vital responsibility to the island. Now in my third academic year, I am even more convinced that its future depends on remaining responsive to the community it serves.
That requires listening. Students can tell us where support is needed. Employers can help us understand changing skills requirements. Alumni, families and community partners can challenge our assumptions. A college that stops listening risks losing sight of its purpose.
It also requires recognising the people who made these recent achievements possible. I thank our faculty, staff and Board of Governors, particularly those who devoted time and energy to the accreditation process. Maintaining standards and supporting students takes sustained effort.
Just as importantly, I thank Bermuda. Public support, community engagement, employer partnerships and the confidence of students and their families are not extras that sit outside the College’s success. They are fundamental to it. Bermuda College cannot succeed apart from Bermuda.
None of this removes the challenges ahead. Our island has an ageing population and a long-term low-birth-rate challenge. That demographic reality has implications for future student numbers. There are also difficult choices about resources, facilities and how we keep learning relevant.
It would be unrealistic to imagine that enrolment will increase indefinitely, or that every programme can grow at the same pace. But that is precisely why we must think more broadly about whom we serve.
Our 2025–2030 Strategic Plan, Innovate, Inspire, Impact, provides that direction. Developed with input from across the College and wider community, it focuses on academic quality, student achievement, faculty and staff, modernisation, organisational effectiveness and financial resilience.
The work now is to turn those priorities into measurable results: clearer opportunities for learners at different stages of life, education responsive to Bermuda’s changing needs, and responsible use of the resources entrusted to us. That will require choices, collaboration and the willingness to change course.
I am proud of these two achievements. I am more interested, though, in what comes next. Ten years of accreditation and three years of enrolment growth are not the destination. They give us a stronger foundation on which to build a College that Bermuda, at every age and every stage of life, can continue to call its own.
- Dr David Sam, President of Bermuda College
Read More About
#BermudaCollege #Education #OpinionColumns
Category: All