Holland College tied for first place ranking in reputation scores for post-secondary institutions across Atlantic Canada, according to a recent survey called the Atlantic Higher Education Reputation Monitor by Corporate Research Associates.

The reputation score represents an average score out of 10 when respondents were asked how they would rate post-secondary institutions on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is extremely negative and 10 is extremely positive. Respondents gave Holland College a reputation rating of 8.3, significantly higher than the regional average of 7.8.

Holland College also received a 99 per cent familiarity rating, well above the regional average of 92 per cent. The familiarity ranking was calculated by subtracting the number of respondents who said they were not familiar with the institution from the total number of respondents.

President Dr. Brian McMillan said the results reflect the way people regard community colleges now.

“In the past, people assumed that community colleges provided limited educational opportunities. Now, with the degree pathways and articulation agreements that we have with other colleges and with universities world-wide, people are realizing that community colleges not only provide relevant, hands-on training to enable graduates to become gainfully employed, but also give students the opportunity to pursue their academic aspirations in a cost-effective way,” he said. “Our college has campuses across the province so it’s hard to imagine a family in Prince Edward Island that Holland College has not affected in some way,” he added.

The Atlantic Higher Education Reputation Monitor is based on 1,502 telephone interviews with Atlantic Canadians aged 18 years or older (n=401 in each of NS and NB, n=400 in NL, and n=300 in PE).The survey was conducted in May of 2015. The margin of error for 400-401(NS, NB, and NL) is +/- 4.9 percentage points, and 300 (PE) is+/-5.6 percentage points, in 95 out of 100 samples.