Helena College celebrates 177 spring graduates across two campuses
Helena College sent 177 spring graduates into local jobs and transfer programs, with 92 walking at two campus ceremonies and nursing and cosmetology leading the workforce impact.
Helena College sent 177 spring graduates into Lewis and Clark County’s workforce and transfer pipeline, with 92 students walking across the stage at campus ceremonies to collect degrees, certificates or licenses. The class matters beyond the handshake line: it pushes new nurses, cosmetology graduates and transfer students toward the jobs and classrooms that keep Helena’s public-serving institutions staffed.
The spring ceremonies were held Friday at Airport Campus and Saturday at Donaldson Campus. Inside the Donaldson Campus student center, graduates crossed the floor, received handshakes from school officials and turned their tassels to mark the move into alumni status. Dean Sandy Bauman called graduation a moment of “closure and accomplishment” and said each graduating group has its own personality.
That personality was visible in the mix of programs represented this year. Helena College’s cosmetology program produced its third cohort of graduates in spring 2026, a sign the program has moved from launch to a steady part of the school’s workforce training. A 2025 cosmetology advisory board record said the first cohort began in January 2024 with 16 original enrollments, and 14 students successfully graduated with an Associate of Applied Science degree. For a county where service jobs matter as much as professional licenses, that is a quick climb from startup to repeat graduate production.
The health-care pipeline remained just as important. At May 1 pinning ceremonies, Helena College described nursing and cosmetology as a transition from student to professional, a milestone that drew family and friends to celebrate. The school’s December 2025 pinning ceremonies also produced 5 LPNs at Bitterroot College, along with 6 LPNs and 16 RNs in Helena, underscoring how much of the college’s output feeds local health-care employers.
The spring total also marked growth. In 2025, just over 100 students were recognized across the airport and Donaldson campus ceremonies in 18 areas of study. This year’s 177 graduates, with 92 walking in person, shows a much larger class moving through the college at a time when local hospitals, clinics, salons and transfer pathways all depend on steady enrollment and completion.
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