Twenty of the Nation’s Top Community College Students Named to 2022 All-USA Academic Team

March 25, 2022

Twenty of the nation’s top college students have been named to the 2022 All-USA Academic Team and will each receive a $5,000 scholarship.

Students were selected for their intellectual rigor, academic achievement, leadership, and civic growth, and for extending their educational experiences to better themselves, their colleges, and their surrounding communities. These students were nominated by their colleges for the scholarship program.

The 2022 All-USA Academic Team is sponsored by Cengage, with additional support from Phi Theta Kappa and the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). In addition to the scholarship, Team members receive a special medallion, and their college presidents receive a commemorative obelisk in recognition of their leadership. The All-USA Academic Team will be officially introduced and recognized during the American Association of Community Colleges’ convention, scheduled for Monday, May 2, 2022, in New York City.

“Community colleges play an important role in providing affordable education that helps students transition successfully to the workforce,” said Kevin Carlsten, Senior Vice President of the U.S. Higher Education Institutional Group at Cengage. “Unfortunately, community colleges felt the largest enrollment impact from the pandemic with a decline of nearly 15% in two years. We want to do all we can to support community college leaders and students with affordable access to quality education and are deeply inspired by the achievements of this year’s All-USA Academic Team, as prime examples of the power of learning.”

The All-USA program is widely recognized as the most prestigious academic honor for students seeking an associate degree or credential, and this year, more than 2,200 students were nominated for this award.

“The All-USA Academic team represents the very best students from the nation’s two-year colleges,” said Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner, President and CEO of Phi Theta Kappa. “We are proud of their outstanding engagement both in the classroom and in their communities, and can’t wait to see the inspiring things they will do next. We thank Cengage for recognizing these student leaders and for investing in their futures.”

The members of the 2022 All-USA Academic Team are:

Lucia Barberena                                                        
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College           
Mississippi 

Jasmine Camille Brown
Georgia Highlands College
Georgia                                                              

Megan Capp                                                           
Rogue Community College                                    
Oregon

Hannah Combs
Jefferson State Community College
Alabama                                                                    

Brianna Cooley                                                       
Bossier Parish Community College                        
Louisiana 

Cheyenne Glass
Chipola College
Florida                                                                

Carly Glassé                                                            
Orange County Community College                     
New York

Brianna Huynh
American River College
California                                                                 

Tanner Keck                                                            
Walters State Community College                         
Tennessee 

Frank Lee
Jefferson State Community College
Alabama                                                               

Edilawit Mehari                                                       
Cottey College                                                       
Missouri

Susana Piedrahita
Miami Dade College
Florida                                                                   

Halianna Piller                                                         
Pima Community College                                       
Arizona 

Isaac Pope
Centralia College
Washington                                                                   

Sangeetha Punnam                                                 
Raritan Valley Community College                                         
New Jersey                                                              

Benjamin Rawald                                                    
Lake Washington Institute of Technology                           
Washington

Andrea Salazar Calderon
Pima Community College               
Arizona                                                         

Sydney Swedick
Schenectady County Community College
New York

Kyle Tan
Galveston College
Texas

Anastasia Whitley
Thomas Nelson Community College
Virginia

About Cengage
Cengage, the U.S. Higher Education business of global education technology company Cengage Group, serves millions of instructors, learners, and institutions. Cengage delivers affordable, high-quality digital products and personalized support to power learning individually and at scale. Cengage’s customer-centered approach enables innovation, including Cengage Unlimited, the first and only all-access digital subscription for textbooks and course materials. Cengage’s textbooks, homework tools, and flagship online learning platforms, MindTap and WebAssign, help educators and students achieve their goals. Visit Cengage at www.cengage.com/institutions or on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.

About the American Association of Community Colleges
The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is the primary advocacy organization for the nation’s community colleges. The association represents more than 1,100 two-year, associate degree-granting institutions and more than 12 million students.

About Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa is the premier honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 3.8 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 10 countries, with approximately 240,000 active members in the nation’s colleges. Learn more at ptk.org.

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