PITTSBURG — It sure seems Los Medanos College is doing something – make that many things – right. The Pittsburg campus was recently named the sixth best in the nation.

College Choice gathered data from Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program, Payscale and individual community colleges to compile a list of the 50 best community colleges in the United States. There are more than 1,600 junior colleges in the nation.

Ranking from the No. 1 spot to No. 5 were: Santa Barbara City College, Broward College (Florida), Meridian Community College (Mississippi), Santa Fe College (Florida), and Flint Hills Technical College (Kansas). Other California community colleges making the list were Santa Ana (No. 13) and Chaffey (No. 18). LMC was the only Northern California campus selected.

Factors to reach the rankings included first-year retention rates, three-year graduation rates and credentials awarded, along with percentage of non-traditional and minority students, percentage of Pell grants, and minority graduation rates, which create a diversity score. Finally, the group notes it compared in-district tuition rates and potential salary to give a sense of the return on investment.

Said Barbara Hudler Cella, director of marketing and media design: “This tops off a year where the college was selected as one of the top 150 community colleges in the nation by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, was honored as the No. 1 community college debate team at the United States Universities Debating Championships, and LMC’s stellar Engineering Tech team won accolades from NASA for its meteor-coring tool, which NASA used on a recent mission.”

President Bob Kratochvil said: “This award is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our faculty, staff and students. We are proud of our success in improving the quality of life for our students, while enhancing our communities and our economy.”

The school opened in 1974 and is one of three in Contra Costa Community College District. Situated on a 120-acre campus, it has grown in classroom space by 50 percent in the last decade for its 9,000 students attending each semester.

Victor Anguiano, a 2016 Antioch High grad, enjoys attending LMC.

So far, his favorite class has been Calculus and Geometry Analysis 2 because “my instructor, Professor Allen, was so well-organized and efficient with his lesson plans and his notes and all of the resources available to help me succeed in the class.”

Anguiano has also participated in baseball and “had a great time being out there every day. The coaching was great, the players were like brothers … we were like one big family. Everyone worked hard and pushed each other at practice, and we saw the hard work pay off. We came in second place in our league, made it to the third round of playoffs, knocking off the No. 1 seed in the second round, and were among the top three teams in the state for bunts and stolen bases. It was a great season and I know I’m a much better ball player and person just from being around the team.”

Los Medanos offers more than 30 associate degrees and more than 20 certificates of achievement. Resources include a state of the art library; science, math, and music study labs; more than 700 computers for student use; career center; and Honors Scholars program. According to info provided by College Choices, nearly 30 percent of students who complete coursework at LMC transfer to a college or university offering baccalaureate degrees.

To learn more about Los Medanos College, visit www.losmedanos.edu/

Reach Trine Gallegos at TrineG@att.net