Columbia Basin College students and graduates continue to be among the best at the state's community colleges at finding employment.

About eight out of 10 who took at least 45 credit hours in the college's work force programs found jobs within a year of leaving, according to a CBC work force monitoring report. That puts the college third among the state's community colleges.

Three out of four students who didn't reach that threshold of completion also found work.

"What's amazing is that even students who leave us early are able to find jobs," Curt Freed, vice president for instruction, told the college's board of trustees Monday.

CBC offers work force training in a number of occupations, from nursing and dental hygiene to early childhood education and bookkeeping.

The report indicated the college maintained its success from the previous year of providing career programs needed within the region and helping students move into those careers.

The report noted that despite the stagnant economy, the college maintained enrollment within its work force programs while nearly all the other community colleges in the state lost enrollment.

Trustee Renee Finke said she was pleased with the report but wondered what changes have been made to the program in recent years. The college is in its fourth year of budget reductions, she said.

CBC President Rich Cummins said some work force programs were cut in the past few years but they have generally been those programs with high costs and low enrollment.

"We had a mixed reaction from the legal community when we cut the paralegal program but our analysis showed we'd flooded the market," Cummins said.

-- Ty Beaver: 582-1402; tbeaver@tricityherald.com