Bachus is a clear-eyed and likable protagonist and his hard-earned reflections on the way humans learn from one another are worth a read. A valuable and thoughtful work from a professor at the end of his teaching career.— Kirkus

In a time of crumbling infrastructure, education budget cuts, and spiraling college debt, Ned Bachus finds hope and possibility in our country’s community colleges. Open Admissions is a love song to the promise and accessibility of affordable higher education. Weaving a narrative tapestry from the threads of his own search within and abroad, Bachus discovers that while he thought he taught writing to nontraditional students, what he really was teaching was independence.— Roger LaMay, General Manager, WXPN

In his deeply personal book, Open Admissions: What Teaching at Community College Taught Me About Learning, Ned Bachus reflects on his nearly forty-year teaching career, mostly most of which was at a community college…All too often, a college’s prestige is based on how many students it denies admission. Ned Bachus reminds us of the importance of colleges that focus on admitting and supporting students – and giving them the opportunity for transformation and success. — Dave Canarie, Portland Press Herald

I loved this book. Ned Bachus can really write. This memoir is brilliant, engaging, and instructive. Open Admissions is both moving and personal; it is serious without being sanctimonious. Bachus is never pious and he is always inspiring, whether he’s talking about the students he’s teaching or about his own experiences and family life. A must read, not only for those who teach at community colleges or at public institutions, but for all teachers and all administrators. I recommend Open Admissions with a full heart.
— Gina Barreca, Professor of English, University of Connecticut, contributor to Chronicle of Higher Education, and author of Babes in Boyland: A Personal History of Coeducation in the Ivy League

Bachus points out in the book that over 1,100 community colleges serve a huge portion of our nation’s college population, notably many of our most vulnerable people. He writes, “When community college looks in the mirror, it sees America looking back at it.” It represents a last chance for individuals whose earlier efforts at college proved unsuccessful and the only chance for many at the lower end of America’s economic ladder. – Len Lear, Chestnut Hill Local,  Link to Article

New memoir celebrates community colleges: Open to opportunity.
— Dagney C. Ernest, Camden Herald, Village Soup Link to Article

Bachus closes Open Admissions by describing the important role played by the more than 1,100 community colleges in the United States, where “success and redemption stories play out one student at a time.” All too often, a college’s prestige is based on how many students it denies admission. Ned Bachus reminds us of the importance of colleges that focus on admitting and supporting students – and giving them the opportunity for transformation and success.–Dave Canarie is an attorney and adjunct faculty member at the University of Southern Maine.
Link to Article

First-generation college students, especially, may feel as though they are in a foreign country as they try to navigate the academic, social and administrative aspects of college. For many, the situation is all the more challenging because, in addition to being new college students, they are new to America. Ned Bachus explores these journeys and others in his well-written, engaging and deeply personal book Open Admissions: What Teaching at Community College Taught Me About Learning. Link to Article