BCC Recognized Among Nation's Leaders in Student Satisfaction

Print Story | Email Story
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC) has been recognized as one of the nation's highest-performing colleges and universities for student satisfaction, according to higher education technology company EdSights, earning a place on EdSights' 2026 Student Voice Score Honors List.
 
The Student Voice Score Honors List recognizes the top-performing 20 percent of participating colleges and universities within each higher education sector, celebrating institutions that are setting the national standard for student experience and success.
 
The recognition comes as the newly released 2026 Student Voice Score Report found that student satisfaction has increased nationally for the third consecutive year, offering an encouraging counterpoint to many of the challenges currently facing higher education.
 
"At BCC, student success is at the center of everything we do. Being recognized by our own students as one of America's leading institutions for student satisfaction is a tremendous honor. It reflects the dedication of our faculty, staff, and campus community," said BCC President Hara Charlier.
 
Key Findings from the 2026 Student Voice Score Report
The 2026 Student Voice Score Report reflects feedback from more than 125,000 students attending 257 colleges and universities across the United States and found:
  • Student satisfaction increased for the third consecutive year, with the national Student Voice Score rising from 15.0 in 2024 to 22.3 in 2025 and 30.0 in 2026.
  • Students consistently report that supportive relationships with faculty and staff, a strong sense of belonging, and access to timely support services have the greatest influence on their overall college experience.
  • Institutions that actively listen and respond to student feedback are outperforming peers on measures of student satisfaction and engagement.
The report also identifies opportunities for continued improvement across higher education, including administrative communication, financial aid processes, campus services, and access to academic resources.
 
The Student Voice Score (SVS) is the nation's first ongoing benchmark that captures student satisfaction directly from students and at scale. Developed by EdSights, the SVS provides colleges and universities with a standardized measure of the student experience while recognizing institutions that consistently earn exceptional feedback from their students.

Tags: BCC,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield Schools See Better Building Utilization, Continued Choice Outs

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Students return to school in two weeks; Pittsfield will have one less elementary school and around 100 fewer students. 

The School Committee was updated on enrollment for the 2026-2027 academic year during last week's regular meeting. 

At this time, the Pittsfield Public Schools had 4,586 students, compared to 4,682 at the end of the 2025-2026 school year. Superintendent Latifah Phillips said this has been the district's trend for years and is not surprising. 

"Across all of these grade levels, we have a decrease. I believe of about 80-90 students. I think it's at eighth grade that we're going to look into and make sure that our data is accurate," she said to the School Committee last week. 

"But otherwise, the enrollment is following the trends that we have expected in probably the last decade." 

With this school year comes the closure of Morningside Community School and the middle school restructuring that sends Grades 5-6 to Herberg Middle School and Grades 7-8 to Reid Middle School. 

Fifth grade enrollment was subtracted from last year's elementary enrollment, and these reflect the reassignment of Morningside students to Allendale, Capeless, Egremont, and Williams. 

Phillips pointed out that this process has increased the use of school buildings, as underutilized buildings were one of the concerns that led to institutional changes. 

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories