Butler Community College earns national ACT “Champion Award” for expanding credit pathways for Kansas students

Butler Community College has received an ACT Champion Award, recognizing the college as a “Higher Ed, 2-Year Policy Champion” for expanding opportunities for Kansas students. ACT announced the honor at the 2026 ACT Summit in Nashville, where Butler was one of six recipients from across the country. The award highlights Butler’s role in making college credit more accessible through policies that remove barriers to higher education. In particular, the release says Butler is the only community college in Kansas that awards college credit for the ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate—aimed at recognizing real-world skills students bring to the classroom and supporting faster degree completion. ACT also noted that Butler was represented at the summit by Executive Dean of Academics & Community Partnerships Dr. Heather Rinkenbaugh and Vice President of Student Services Bill Rinkenbaugh. The recognition matters locally because it spotlights an education-to-credential pathway that can help students translate workplace-readiness credentials into academic progress within Kansas’s community college system.