“At the heart of the U.S – U.K. Community College and Technical Exchange Program is collaboration between students and faculty on both sides of the pond,” said HCCC Interim President Dr. Lisa Dougherty. “We thank the ACCT and AoC for facilitating this opportunity to share our culinary curriculum and to learn from our partner college. This exchange is just a hint to the scope of our many workforce pathways and how they benefit our students.”
Spearheaded by the ACCT Global Workforce Coalition, the U.S. – U.K Community College Technical Exchange Program is an evolving collaborative initiative with participating community. The study abroad program receives funding from the Cyril Taylor Charitable Foundation, which describes the program as a practical model for international collaboration to drive innovation, sustainability, and opportunity on both sides of the Atlantic.
“We are excited and pleased to announce that four students from Capital City College in London will be coming to HCCC in November, and four HCCC students will be going to Capital City College in March,” said Zachary Forrest, HCCC Associate Director of Veterans Affairs and International Student Services.
“HCCC students participating in this exchange are enrolled in the College’s CAI 206-Introduction to Sustainability course for Spring 2027. They will experience a once-in-a-lifetime journey through the foodservice operations of Capital City College and the surrounding communities,” said Dr. Ara Karakashian, Dean of the HCCC School of Business, Culinary Arts, and Hospitality Management and CAI.
Hudson County Community College offers on-site and hybrid study courses for professional certifications, non-credit and credit courses, internships, apprenticeships, and much more.
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About Hudson County Community College
Hudson County Community College serves more than 20,000 credit and non-credit students annually. The College offers more than 90 degree and certificate programs, including award-winning English as a Second Language; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM); Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management; Nursing and Health Professions; and Humanities and Social Sciences. The HCCC Culinary Arts/Hospitality Management program was ranked number six in the U.S. by Best Choice Schools. The College’s School of Continuing Education and Workforce Development offers cutting-edge, industry-recognized, stackable credentials in alignment with high-priority workforce needs.
HCCC has partnerships with major four-year colleges and universities in the greater New Jersey-New York area and beyond, accommodating seamless transfer of credits for further undergraduate and graduate education.
The College has received dozens of national awards throughout the years. HCCC was a finalist in seven categories of the 2026 American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) “Awards of Excellence” and earned 2026 Advancing Institutional Equity and Belonging, Faculty Innovation, and Faculty of the Year Awards, in addition to Dale P. Parnell Faculty Recognition. HCCC earned AACC 2024 “Awards of Excellence” CEO of the Year, Faculty of the Year, and Student Success Awards. In 2023, HCCC received the Outstanding Member-Institution Award from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU).
For the sixth consecutive year, HCCC was selected as one of only a few community colleges in the United States to be named a “2026 Most Promising Place to Work in Community Colleges” by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). HCCC was one of 22 community colleges in the nation, and the only college in New Jersey, to be recognized by ModernThink LLC and the “Chronicle of Higher Education” as a 2025, 2024, 2023 and 2022 “Great College to Work For®” and named to the 2024 and 2023 “Great Colleges Honor Roll of Distinction.”
HCCC is one of two colleges in the United States to be named a Top Ten Finalist in all three program categories for the nationally recognized 2023 Bellwether Awards, and received the 2023 Bellwether Award for the College’s cutting-edge “Hudson Scholars” program, which also won the 2024 Bellwether Legacy Award. HCCC also earned the 2026 Bellwether “Best in Showcase Award.”
The College’s exemplary work in advancing student success has been recognized with “Leader College of Distinction” designation by Achieving the Dream, the national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing community colleges as catalysts for equity and mobility in their communities. HCCC also earned the Campus Prevention Network Seal of Prevention in 2025, 2024 and 2023 for demonstrating leadership in digital prevention programming focused on student safety, well-being, and inclusion.
The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) named the College the inaugural recipient of the 2025 ACCT national “Impact and Success Award.”
