# Boricua College

Boricua College is a private college in New York City designed to serve the educational needs of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in the United States.

## History

The college was founded by a group of educators and community organizers, including Antonia Pantoja, Victor G. Alicea, Mildred Rodriguez, Francisco G. Ortiz, and Héctor A. Santiago. In 1970, Pantoja created the Puerto Rican Research and Resource Center in Washington, D.C. Through the center, Pantoja co-founded and became the president of the Universidad Boricua, which later evolved into Boricua College. In 1974 Victor G. Alicea was appointed president of the college and has remained in that role ever since.

## Faculty

The school employs a largely bilingual faculty and staff of 130 full-time and 100 part-time members. According to its Self-Study Report (2014) to the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, in fall 2012-13 it had 59.5 full-time faculty and 25 part-time adjunct faculty. More than 90% are Latine. It serves a student population of 1,200.

## Campuses

The college has four campuses: in Audubon Terrace, Washington Heights, Manhattan; North Williamsburg, Brooklyn; East Williamsburg, Brooklyn; and the Bronx.

## Accreditation

Boricua College is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. In the spring of 2014 the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC/CAEP) evaluated Boricua College's Audit Brief and recommended it "above standard" for TEAC's three quality principles: Candidate Learning, Faculty Learning, and Capacity and Commitment of the institution. TEAC/CAEP met and accepted the recommendation and accredited, for the maximum allowable of seven years (spring 2014 to spring 2021), the college's Bachelor of Science degree program in Childhood Education that included the Generic Studies Liberal Arts and Sciences core curriculum program, and the Masters in Science degree program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). This national achievement complements the authorization of these programs by the New York State Education Department and the State Certification of the graduates.

## Student body and graduation

The college's courses are taught using Bloom's taxonomy model from the 1950s. The model emphasizes the importance of critical thinking skills and clarification of values and increasing students' capacity for self-reflection. Its student body is 79% adult (over 25 years old with family responsibilities), which characterizes it as a nontraditional college. In his book Access to Freedom, James Hall explains that these kinds of colleges cater to adult, working students who may take longer than the six years taken by traditional students to graduate.
According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, Boricua College's graduation rate is reportedly 54% among first-time college students who entered in 2006 and graduated in 2012. When students who transfer out to other colleges are taken into account, that positive completion rate is given by the National Center as 69%. Further, during the last 10 years the college's education department has program completers who pass the New York State certification examinations at more than the required 80% rate.

### Notable alumni

* Félix Ortiz, former New York State Assemblyman and Assistant Speaker of the New York State Assembly.
* Robert Torres (stage name Sabor Latino), Hip Hop artist and author

## Notable visitors

In January 2000 President Bill Clinton visited the Brooklyn campus at its Graham Avenue learning center to inaugurate a Small Business Association at the college.