On January 8, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education recognized Salish Kootenai College (SKC) as a winner of the first-ever Postsecondary Success Recognition Program.  

The program was launched in April 2024 by U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. It honors colleges and universities that excel in serving underserved student populations, facilitating successful student transfers and completions, and preparing graduates for successful careers.   

The college was one of seven to be recognized out of 200 that were invited to apply. 

The Postsecondary Success Recognition Program highlights the vital role that institutions like SKC play in advancing educational attainment and economic mobility for all Americans, with a particular focus on underserved communities.  

SKC is a public, primarily associate degree granting institution chartered by the Tribal Council of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation in Western Montana. SKC serves over 600 students with nearly 80% underserved students of color and over 65% of students receiving Pell Grants. At SKC, 68% of students transfer or graduate within eight years, and students earn more than high school graduates in the state on average after college.  

SKC views their commitment to student success as critical to economic development, community sustainability, and tribal sovereignty for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the more than 60 tribes represented among their student population. SKC practices a holistic network approach to student support providing academic, basic needs, and career services through a coordinated CARE team.  

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Several NWCCU member institutions were recognized by Secretary Miguel Cardona under the United Stated Department of Education’s

The 100 predominantly bachelor’s degree granting institutions includes these NWCCU Members:  

Linfield University, Oregon Institute of Technology, University of Puget Sound, Willamette University, Portland State University, Central Washington University, Pacific Lutheran University, St. Martin’s University. 

The 100 predominantly associate’s or certificate granting institutions includes these NWCCU Members:  

Bates Technical College, Bellingham Technical College, Renton Technical College, Dawson Community College, Lake Washington Institute of Technology, North Seattle College, Walla Walla Community College, Yakima Valley College, Columbia Gorge Community College, Columbia Basin College, Ilisagvik College, Oregon Coast Community College, Pierce College District, Salish Kootenai College, Weber State University. 

The Department identified these institutions using publicly available data to measure performance on key indicators related to equitable access, success, and post-college outcomes at public and non-profit institutions across the country. These metrics consider the extent to which institutions:  

• Enroll low-income students and students of color in their state;  
• Help those students graduate or transfer successfully; and   
• Prepare them to enter the career of their choice and enjoy upward mobility, including recouping their costs and earning a premium over high school graduates in their state.   

NWCCU congratulates these institutions and thanks them for their efforts in support of students. 

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Earlier this fall, Weber State University was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education for our work on improving student success and closing achievement gaps. We were one of 30 Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities schools honored with the Raise the Bar Postsecondary Success Recognition Program. 

While being singled out in this manner is truly flattering, it also offers an opportunity to pause and consider how we’ve reached this point, and to contemplate additional work we can do to expand our practices to help even more students. 

Access has been and continues to be one of our institution’s core commitments dating back to its beginnings in 1889. When I first reflected on this honor, I was reminded of the faces and names of students, past and present, who personify what it means to make the most of their access to an open-enrollment university like Weber State, and then persevere and earn a college education. 

I was reminded of Naheed Davis, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala when she was in elementary school, and who initially stopped out of college because of a degenerative eye condition that stole her vision. Naheed never lost her lifelong love of numbers, and eventually, with some of the support measures put in place at Weber State, she returned to college and earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting and master’s in taxation all at WSU. 

This honor celebrates the success of Camille Lopez, a student who was discouraged and became disenfranchised with education while in high school, but discovered a new love of learning and self-confidence through our Wildcat Scholar program. As a Wildcat Scholar, she learned time-management skills and gained the confidence to earn a degree in special education while raising three young children, including one on the autism spectrum. 

I also see Jessica Stratton’s success reflected in this honor. Fleeing a turbulent homelife, Jessica found herself living out of her car and working graveyard shifts to make ends meet, but she never lost sight of her goal of pursuing an education. Today she is an award-winning student who will earn her degree in computer science next spring. 

These are just three examples of the thousands of success stories at Weber State that make me so proud of our institution. I’m sure many of you can point to similar inspirational stories at your schools. 

Weber State provides opportunities for students like Naheed, Camille, and Jessica to have a second chance at a college education, opportunities that they might not have at selective enrollment institutions, based on their previous educational struggles. 

Yet for every success story like these, I worry about the number of students whose names and stories I do not know. Students who also enrolled at Weber State, but did not find success. Students whose enrollment record is only reflected in anonymous data and charts that show the work we still have to do to further close opportunity and achievement gaps. 

As the Department of Education recognition shows, we are making progress on closing those gaps. Our efforts to do so reflect a nearly decade-long process of intentional and systemic changes, informed by data and institutionalized strategically. 

This focus didn’t occur overnight. Instead, it’s helpful to view it over several years, and some of the key decisions and metrics that contributed to our improved outcomes. 

Early Efforts 

In the summer of 2016, Weber State University created a Student Success Steering Committee (SSSC) comprised of leadership and representation from the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs divisions. Two similar committees existed in Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, focusing on access and success of students from socioeconomically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities, and the decision was made to combine these efforts at the institutional level. The idea was to gather individuals who could think critically about these high-level student success issues, help educate faculty, staff, and students about the concept, and guide a process that would ultimately communicate and implement best practices for student success across the university. 

The SSSC also led to the creation of Tuesday Tips, a dedicated email sent out every other Tuesday during the semester to faculty and staff with tips and items designed to help students be successful. Some topics included where to go for advising, how to apply for financial aid and scholarships, and other resources on campus to help them achieve their educational goals and well-being. Since 2019, the number of subscribers to this newsletter has more than doubled (2019: 293, 2024: 628), although we would like to see more faculty subscribe. 

The university also invested in the Starfish retention tool, which allows faculty to flag students who are not coming to class, turning in assignments late, or struggling with content. Over time, progress surveys and individual outreach have gained momentum as tools that prompt early alert outreach to students. This is one more indication of our efforts to support our students by attempting to understand how they are doing and to proactively help when they are struggling.

In the early stages, the SSSC would meet to discuss various issues related to student outcomes, including identifying successful approaches in some of our academic colleges. Some of our communications during that time frame were aimed at celebrating individuals who were having success, and featuring them on web pages and employee newsletters, including Tuesday Tips, to model the importance of helping students persevere and succeed. 

A great example of this occurred during my first year as president. In August 2019, at our annual Back-to-School Breakfast, we asked faculty and staff to respond to a survey where they shared how they individually contributed to student success. Along with some of the responses you might expect from dedicated faculty and staff who work directly with students, employees in landscaping and accounting services also shared how their work supports our students. We highlighted some of the answers in employee communications throughout that school year as a way to further reinforce the campus wide commitment.  

Being Intentional 

The arrival of a new provost in early 2020, combined with the university undertaking its first strategic planning process in a decade, set the stage for the next step in our evolution. The new university-level strategic plan, Weber State Amplified: A Five-year Plan for Growth, was developed in consultation with key internal and external stakeholders and garnered approval     from the WSU Board of Trustees in March 2021.

The comprehensive strategic plan identified five overarching goals and an extensive list of desired outcomes (in hindsight, too many!). A handful of key original goals[1] focused on expanding access and improving achievement gaps, including: 

• By Fall 2025, WSU will become an Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution by growing our percent of students who identify as Hispanic or Latino descent to 15%. 
• At the end of their first year, 80% of students, faculty and staff from traditionally underserved populations will report a sense of belonging at the university.  
• By the end of AY2025-26, close 8-year completion gaps between the overall student population and specific student populations or interest, including:
  • Low-income (Pell-eligible) students: Reduce current 6% gap to 4% 
  • Students placed in developmental math and English: reduce 28% gap to 20% gap 
  • First-generation students: reduce 7% gap to 4% gap 
  • Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color (BIPOC)/minority students: reduce 12% gap to an 8% gap. 

Putting the Plan into Action: Are We the Problem?

As we launched the strategic plan in the Fall 2021, we invited notable student success champion Dr. Tim Renick, National Institute of Student Success (NISS) at Georgia State University, for our back-to-school meetings. We continued to work with NISS for that first half year to develop the Weber State Student Success playbook. The playbook emphasized that we focus on four strategies:

1. improving data and the use of our data,
2. adding more and better aligning advising,
3. developing more proactive financial aid strategies, and
4. differentiating how we treat students based on their completion goals.

But most importantly, Dr. Renick encouraged us to look at our structures, our processes, and what we put in place for students, and then to ask, “Are we the problem?”

Noting a decline in critical enrollment metrics post-COVID, we established an enrollment-based task force to look at barriers to enrollment and identify areas of need. The task force, which dubbed itself the “Loonatics,” based on Safi Bahcall’s book Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries, included a variety of faculty and staff from departments across the university willing to undertake the work needed to imagine, create, and deploy tailored student success efforts. They reviewed data during open-enrollment periods to make informed decisions and proactively reach out to students in need, ideally personally connecting with our at-risk students before they stopped out.

Over time, recognizing trends faster has allowed the Loonatics enrollment task force to be even more nimble in responding. Working in this manner has led to a 6% increase in budget-related full-time equivalent over the last three years in our fall-to-fall retention rates, and a 12% jump in 6-year graduation rates over the last five years.

These gains are attributed to a number of key practices, including: 

• admitted student and new student orientation initiatives 
• semester-to-semester transition outreach 
• student melt outreach 
• performance- and behavior-based outreach 
• returning student campaigns 
• student belonging and student well-checks 

Changing to Better Support Students

In 2023, we restructured our university to refine our focus on student success, by combining the Division of Student Affairs and the Enrollment Services team into a new Division of Student Access and Success. This division was charged with streamlining services and support for students. The reorganization also involved centralizing academic support areas and programs and services focused on high-impact educational experiences.

That same year, we were selected as a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Student Success Equity Intensive Cohort. With this initiative, we created a team of faculty, staff, administrators, and a student representative to work with other institutions across the nation in designing and refining our goals to eliminate gaps with the intention of capturing the student voice in the data and information we were collecting and analyzing.

We’ve continued to encourage faculty and staff to identify where we as an institution are the problem and where unnecessary barriers for students exist that can be removed. Along those lines, we recently revised our admissions and advising models and restructured our high school dual enrollment programs to ensure we’re focusing on access and success for our students.

Data-Informed Outcomes

Over the last five years, our institution has made significant gains in our student success strategy. In part, we’ve relied on point-in-time and live dashboards to monitor enrollment and outreach strategies actively, and to measure our strategic plan progress and progress on our accreditation metrics.

In the fall of 2019, our first-year, first-time student retention rate was 56%. While our rate has fluctuated a bit over the last couple of years, as of fall 2024 it was 58.2%, representing incremental growth.

We have also made progress toward becoming an emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution, with our Hispanic and Latino student population growing from 11.7% to 13.2% of our overall student body by fall 2024.

Utilizing fall 2019 data, we articulated goals to close eight-year completion gaps as determined by IPEDS outcome measure data for first-generation students from a 7% to a 4% completion gap. As of fall 2023, we met this goal.

We aimed to close our low-income, Pell-eligible, completion gap from 6% to 4%, and our Pell-eligible students now graduate at a rate 0.2% higher than their peers. For students placed in developmental math and English, our goal was to close our completion gap from 28% to 22%.  As of fall 2023, this gap is now 22.7%.

For students who identify being from an underrepresented race/ethnicity, our goal is to close the gap from 12% to 8%. This goal has seen less progress than the other identified cohorts of interest but still has positive progress as we have closed to a 10.7% completion gap as of fall 2023.

Keys to Success

We attribute much of this success to a handful of initiatives implemented over the last five years, including Advising, Wildcat Scholars, Intentional Communication Plan, Orientation, and Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution Efforts.

Advising 

In spring 2022, our advising ratio was approximately 620:1, compared to the nationally recommended ratio of 300:1. Additionally, students seeking to change their major, those who completed an associate’s degree but had not declared a bachelor’s program of study, and those who had not been admitted to a selective program did not experience specialized outreach or assistance. To remedy this situation, in the fall of 2022 we hired our first group of first-year exploratory advisors and changed our admission process. Instead of students having to select a program of study if they were uncertain, they could choose one of 12 areas of interest. Overall, we hired 22 new advisors, expanded the number of college advisors, added transition advisors, and increased the capacity for advising in high school dual enrollment programs. As a result, we shrunk our student-to-advisor ratio from over 600:1 to 350:1, which has improved student advising significantly.

Wildcat Scholars

This program is designed to support our most vulnerable students, those who are placed in developmental mathematics and developmental English. A disproportionately higher percentage of low-income (59%) students are identified as Dev-Dev than those who enroll (41%) at the university. The Wildcat Scholars program uses a cohort-based, learning community, corequisite model. Participants, like Camille Lopez, have seen higher first-year retention rates than their counterparts of similar demographics who did not participate. Using this model, we are building out additional first-year learning communities. 

Intentional Communication Plan

In 2021, we developed an outreach plan promoting messages aimed at improving student retention. A key component of this is the Mainstay texting and chatbot platform, which we branded as Ask Waldo. Messages promote everything from registration to awareness of student support and financial aid resources, along with intentional text and email interventions such as alerts for low test scores or nonattendance in classes.

Orientation

In spring 2022, we implemented mandatory orientation, which was defined as completing multiple online modules that included information designed to help students succeed in college. In 2024, with the hire of 22 more advisors and the reallocation of other personnel, we added mandatory advising for first-year students. Surprisingly, even with these two new mandatory requirements, we welcomed our largest-ever first-year class in 2024.

Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution Efforts

Since hiring our Executive Director for Hispanic-Serving Institution Initiatives in 2022 thanks to a gift from Ally Bank, we have evaluated our programs and offerings. In 2024, we received a grant from the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity to create our Building Puentes,  Spanish-speaking and bilingual degree program for undergraduate students. Our headcount for Hispanic and Latino students has grown from 3,540 to 4,103, and our high school dual enrollment offerings have grown from 9% of students enrolled as Hispanic in 2022, to 11.2% in 2024.

Looking Ahead

We are thrilled with how the steps outlined here have helped improve our retention and completion numbers. These strategic and intentional steps have helped the university as a whole embrace our goal of student success.

Naheed, Camille, and Jessica are a few shining examples of what success looks like at Weber State.

But the data and charts show that while we are making progress, more needs to be done. As we embark on our next strategic planning process at WSU, we must never lose sight of the many anonymous individuals who, despite our improved outreach efforts, continue to slip through the cracks and for whom a college education remains elusive. 

[1] The first two of these goals were changed in November 2024 as part of the Amplified 2.0 Strategic Plan, as follows:  

• We are committed to become an Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institution. Through Fall 2025 we will make positive growth towards having 15% of our student population include those who identify as Hispanic or Latino. 
• By the end of their first year, 70% of students will report a sense of belonging at the university, matching the level reported by all students. We will review data disaggregated by different characteristics in an effort to remove barriers to belonging. 

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This fall, North Seattle College (NSC) was proud to be named one of the top 100 community and technical colleges in the country eligible for recognition from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) for promoting inclusive excellence in education. This opportunity to receive a national honor as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Raise the Bar initiative is not one the college approached lightly. Since its founding in 1970, North Seattle College has always been an open-access institution of higher education, intent on preparing its diverse students for success in life and work. NSC clearly understands who its students are and where they come from.

Knowing the Neighborhood

While Seattle – thanks to being the corporate home of companies like Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks – has a reputation for having high incomes and an enviable quality of life, the majority of NSC students come from low-income neighborhoods. More than 55% of students who live in the college’s eight ZIP Code service area come from two ZIP Codes with lower incomes than other areas of North Seattle. These neighborhoods have median incomes of just over $60,000, compared with other neighborhoods of North Seattle ranging from the low $80,000s to the low $100,000s.

Data from the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) has shown how student demographics have changed over time, and the college has maintained a focus on its students from a broad and growing catchment area. In the 1990’s, conversations and professional development about who NSC’s students are and what unique and diverse approaches can assist in their success helped the college evolve and sharpen its focus. The sharpening continued and, in many cases, accelerated in the 2000’s.

In the early 2010’s, NSC prioritized a data-driven approach and partnered with the Gates Foundation on a “Pathways to Completion” project. This partnership focused on underserved populations and how to accelerate their learning as evidence showed time as a major hurdle to student success. It focused directly on bridging the gap between access and success by redesigning the onboarding and first-term experiences of underprepared students and sought to improve completion through early retention and progression.  

In 2016, NSC unveiled a new strategic plan that acknowledged the college’s history and created a roadmap forward. At the forefront of this plan was the continued prioritization of supporting underserved populations through an institutional reorganization that included a new college equity and diversity plan. This also established new executive-level positions at the college and, later, a district-level associate vice president of EDIC. Additionally, NSC created an EDIC division with increased staffing and a physical presence in a newly renovated Equity and Welcome Center. In 2018 and 2021, NSC was recognized as one of the top five LGBTQ-friendly community colleges in the nation.   

The new strategic plan also positioned NSC to receive a critical Title III Grant in 2018 that provided financial and other resources for NSC to embrace the national Guided Pathways approach to continue the focus on student success with a specific focus on underserved students.  

Defining Success 

NSC defines success in the context of the Mission, Vision, and Values of the Seattle Colleges District Strategic Plan. NSC achieves success in this framework via its Core Themes (Advancing Student Success, Excelling in Teaching and Learning, and Building a Sustainable Community) and Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs): Inquiry, Problem Solving, Communication, and Responsibility. Core Themes and Essential Learning Outcomes reflect both NSC’s student population and the communities it serves. As a minority-serving institution, NSC infuses equity, diversity, inclusion, and community principles into its assessment of Core Themes and ELOs.   

Further, NSC prides itself on supporting the largest percentage of part-time students and the oldest student population in the state. In a research- and student-centered design study that NSC is conducting in collaboration with a local economic development organization (Seattle Jobs Initiative), it found: 1) 45% of transfer students and 60% of workforce students work full time while enrolled, and 2) 63% of transfer students and 79% of workforce students are enrolled part time.   

The college also values equitable access to credential completion, economic mobility and fulfillment for our students by investing in programs like the Opportunity Center, Workforce Instruction, TRIO, AANAPISI, Benefits Hub, and Disability Services. All of these provide direct student support and eliminate systemic barriers for students from vulnerable populations.  

NSC has embraced its definition of success by focusing on two aspects of culture: evidence and care. The college is guided by the tenets of transformational approaches that build on its adaptive capacity to innovate and co-create by FAILing (First Attempt in Learning). NSC believes in failing often and together to provide institutional learning. This encourages staff and faculty to try new and different initiatives and approaches to provide learning and support for diverse student populations.    

With this focus, NSC has renewed its investment in faculty and staff to help them grow as champions of the approach. For example, NSC traditionally sends employees to the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) by funding 27 faculty and staff in the 2023-2024 year. Locally, professional development opportunities include Pathways to Teaching Excellence in which the college’s Teaching & Learning Center organizes gatherings to promote equitable and inclusive learning experiences.     

Fostering Faculty that Reflects Student Body

Since the early 2000’s, NSC has formally committed to employing a faculty body that reflects the student body. These efforts are based on evidence that students perform better when they can see themselves in the front of the classroom. Search and hiring processes have become more informed by best practices that include an inclusion advocate on each committee. SBCTC data show NSC now has a majority non-white full-time faculty body. Once hiring is made, tenure track faculty are onboarded through the formal tenure process and informal cohort training administered by the Office of Instruction along with senior faculty. This cohort training focuses on informing new faculty of best and promising classroom practices particularly geared toward diverse and otherwise underserved students.    

Regarding support for students, NSC has embraced funding opportunities aimed at providing intentional support for specific student populations and changes to traditional processes for all students. Together, these help the college reach goals of increasing student achievement for all students and eliminating success gaps between diverse student populations. Some examples include recognition and funding as an Asian American and Native American Pacific Island Serving Institution (AANAPISI); funding through a National Science Foundation (NSF) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) STEM Grant; creating and implementing Directed Self Placement (DSP) instruments; and the Guided Pathways framework with Title III funding to map out instructional pathways that provide clear guidance for students to use to complete their desired educational goals.   

Measuring Student Success

NSC’s student success measures are established in the Seattle College District Strategic Plan Scorecard. These goals include improving student engagement, fall to winter retention rates, completion of college level math within year one, completion or transfer within four years of entry, and job placement and wage progression. Each measure is disaggregated by race and ethnicity, specifically between Historically Undeserved Students of Color (Black, Native American/Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latine, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander) and non-historically underserved students of color (White and Asian).  

The Seattle Colleges district sets targets that each college seeks to achieve using strategies and tactics specific to its unique population of students. Progress toward each college is measured with various methods, including the Student Outcomes dataset. Another important way NSC measures student success is by utilizing workforce outcomes data on livable pay and career mobility.   

The Mission of Seattle Colleges establishes the expectations that the colleges will prepare “…each student for success in life and work, fostering a diverse, engaged, and dynamic community…” in a multicultural, diverse, and international society. The Seattle Colleges Strategic Plan sets Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Community (EDIC) as one of four priority goals, with the development and implementation of a diversity action plan as a primary strategy. This plan is a key aspect of the practices used by NSC to achieve its goals.   

Partnerships and Grants Are Key

One of NSC’s greatest practices is recognizing the value of partnerships and collective impact to do this work. Over the past few years, NSC continued to achieve notable successes in pursuing grant opportunities to further progress toward its student success goals. These included a Title III Strengthening Institutions Grant, LSAMP, and Mental Health Pilot Grant.    

In 2018, NSC received a five-year, $2.2 million Title III grant to improve student success. The grant included four key initiatives: Implement a Guided Pathways Framework; Increase Success in Gateway Math Transfer Courses; Increase Student Access to Key Campus Services and Resources; and Enhance Staff and Faculty Involvement in Data-Driven Strategic Enrollment Management.    

These key initiatives each contribute to the targets outlined in the district scorecard. Some new measures were included based on best practices from the Community College Research Center. For example, including early credit momentum metrics contributes to improved retention and three-year completion is a leading indicator for four-year completion and transfer. (A complete list of grant objectives is available here.)   

The Title III Grant concluded last spring, and NSC made considerable progress in closing equity gaps. The college anticipates this progress will move it closer to the district target when four-year completion and transfer data are released.     

As a minority serving institution (MSI), equity, diversity, inclusion and community efforts are integral in all initiatives at NSC. In Fall 2024, North’s LSAMP program was renewed for an additional three years with $1.5 million in funding. LSAMP funding supports minoritized student success in STEM programs through paid research opportunities (internships and summer research experiences) and conferences with opportunities to present original STEM research. Most recently, a student presented original research on air quality exploring correlations between PM 2.5 Concentrations and proximity to Outdoor Green Spaces using REGEX Optimization. LSAMP also contributed to physical space via the creation of a dedicated LSAMP lounge to foster knowledge sharing and a sense of community for marginalized students stems in STEM.   

In 2020, NSC was awarded a Mental Health Counseling and Services Pilot Grant of $500,000 over four years by SBCTC. Before this grant, the ratio of students to faculty counselors at NSC was 3,000 to 1. The additional staffing served as the catalyst for a new initiative modeled after Cornell University’s Let’s Talk program. Let’s Talk decolonizes and destigmatizes mental health counseling by providing drop-in counseling that seeks to reach traditionally underserved students. To date, drop-in visits have increased by 269%, and the equity gaps between white and minoritized students utilizing drop-in visits has also narrowed.     

In addition to grant opportunities, NSC supported many institutional initiatives designed to further its student success goals. One example of this work is Orientation to College Success (HDC 101) beginning in Fall 2023. National research by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) has shown these comprehensive success courses improve early momentum metrics that serve as leading indicators of long-term completion and transfer. While early data is preliminary, 99% of students surveyed in HDC 101 reported feeling confident about their ability to navigate college.     

Allocating Resources to Meet Objectives

NSC’s resource allocation strategy is guided by shared governance and resource, technology and space allocation planning. Resource allocation is evaluated using a rubric that requires programs to demonstrate how their funding requests support student success goals and NSC’s Essential Learning Outcomes. The funding from this process contributed to institutionalizing successful departmental initiatives. For example, NSC’s Early Childhood Careers program used private foundation support to hire staff for the program’s additional language cohorts including Arabic, Somali, Spanish and Mandarin. These initiatives were successful, and NSC used the process to move these positions to the college’s operating budget.    

Space allocation is also an important part of NSC’s Student Success strategy. Through shared governance, the college decided to institutionalize the Equity and Welcome Center funded by Title III. One service offered at the Equity and Welcome Center that contributes to our student success goals is Belinda’s Closet. Belinda’s Closet was opened in Fall 2022 in response to students needing clothing to wear on graduation day. NSC’s EDIC team established Belinda’s Closet to support students across the college who need professional clothing to wear at interviews, work and, of course, graduation.    

Facts and Data Lead Processes 

NSC uses data, evidence and evaluation through a culture of evidence and a culture of caring. The college’s culture of evidence articulates the power of analytics and intelligence with an inclusive use of both qualitative and quantitative data, with collective wisdom through storytelling that informs our actions and decisions. NSC’s culture of care defines how it approaches evaluation. This is done via the lens of taking chances by FAILing or “First Attempt in Learning,” where failing often, failing together, and learning from failure is celebrated. Improvement is an iterative process that works only when institutions reduce the stigma around failing. Examples where NSC has brought these practices together are the Guided Pathways 100-Day Projects and peer review assessment practice: Teaching Improvement Practices.   

NSC awarded sixty-five 100-Day projects to faculty and staff focused on Guided Pathways redesign projects. The 100-Day projects funded initiatives pertaining to scaling up Guided Pathways. Applicants demonstrated alignment with Guided Pathways goals (retention, completion, Math/English attainment) and articulated how their project embodied SBCTC’s racial equity principles). Funded projects include initiatives to provide more courses with Open Education Resource materials, a series of Art Department Faculty retreats to explore opportunities for anti-racist pedagogical growth, and revisions to English composition curriculum to improve success for neurodivergent students.   

Annually, NSC faculty engage in classroom assessment through the “Teaching Improvement Practices” (TIPs) instrument. This instrument is designed annually by the faculty-led Assessment Committee and guides faculty through an assessment of a practice (or practices) in their classroom that has been shown through evidence to be an area in need of improvement. The focus of TIPs work is determined each year by the Assessment Committee based on meta trends at the institutional level. For instance, the focus of the 2023-24 efforts were based on how modality impacts student success. At the end of the academic year, the results of the TIPs are compiled and summarized into an Annual Report. The summary of the Annual Report provides data and evidence that the college can use in its larger instructional and institutional assessments.   

Shining Examples of Success 

While several programs that have demonstrably contributed to the impact of NSC’s student success strategy have been highlighted throughout this article, two additional programs serve as shining examples: Seattle Promise and curricular changes to early Childhood Careers.    

Seattle Promise is a college tuition and success program funded by the 2018 FEEP Levy. The program provides free tuition at any Seattle College (including NSC) in the form of last dollar funding; targeted equity scholarships to cover books, transportation and housing; and dedicated student support and advising positions. Modeled after other free college programs like CUNY’s ASAP program, preliminary results are encouraging. In the Spring 2024 Data Memo, Seattle Promise students have higher retention and three-year completion rates compared to the overall population, and outcomes for BIPOC scholars are significantly better than their non-Seattle Promise BIPOC peers.  

The Early Childhood Education program at North serves as the pipeline for educators of color. Faculty and staff initiated curricular changes in Early Childhood Careers have cultivated a culture of inclusive excellence for historically underserved Students of Color in both their associate program and the Bachelor of Applied Science program. First, the program collaborated with math and alumni to co-create a contextualized, transferable and highly supported math course for educators. (NSC’s student speaker at the 2024 commencement ceremony was Jorge Hernandez Matancillas, who earned an associate of applied science degree in Early Childhood Education.) The course was piloted by NSC in Spring 2024 and had an 85.7% pass rate compared to 56.8% for Math 107, the most common college level course for ECE students. The program also created language cohorts for Spanish, Somali, Arabic, and Mandarin. It offers a high level of student support, with advising and navigation available in students’ preferred languages, peer tutor-mentors, and annual community events grounded in the rich cultural identities of these students.  

The ECE program at North also partners with Seattle Central College and Seattle Public Schools on a grow-your-own teacher education model to increase teachers of color from within Seattle school communities. In the 2022–23 academic year, 55 percent of students in Seattle Public Schools were nonwhite, but 79 percent of teachers were white. The impact of teachers of color on all students, particular students of color, has been well established. An example of this success is increasing enrollment in historically marginalized students into the applied bachelor’s degree program, and preliminary fall to fall retention outcomes are strong indicators of success.    

As noted in the beginning of this article, summarizing an institution’s history in supporting equitable access, success and post-college outcomes is not as easy as it may sound. North Seattle College has been a beacon for advancing educational equity and excellence since it opened its doors. The college doesn’t have all the answers – far from it – but the hope is that sharing some of the college’s learnings and experiences will help others as they seek to “raise the bar” and build an educational system that promotes equity and upward mobility for all students.   

Dr. Rachel Solemsaas was named president of North Seattle College in July 2024, after serving as interim president beginning in September 2023. Her career spans more than three decades in progressive public service. Dr. Solemsaas’ journey includes 20 years in leadership and administrative roles at community colleges, where she has held chief executive officer positions. Prior to being named interim president for North Seattle College, she served as chancellor of Hawai‘i Community College for seven years. Her unwavering commitment to institutions aligns with her personal values as an anti-poverty activist and social justice advocate. 

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The traditional belief that a college degree is a guaranteed path to success has deep roots in society. For decades, it was widely accepted that earning a degree was a ticket to upward mobility—a surefire way to secure a stable, well-paying job and build a better life.  

The formula was simple: work hard in school, graduate with a degree, and doors would open to opportunities and prosperity. College was seen not just as a place for academic learning but as a critical investment in one’s future, providing a return in the form of career advancement and financial security. 

The education boom took off after World War II when the GI Bill of Rights made higher education accessible to millions of veterans, transforming college from an elite privilege to a mainstream opportunity.  This revolution continued with the Higher Education Act of 1965 further broadening access, especially for women and minorities. 

While this holds true, the path to success is growing more challenging.  Approximately 50 years ago, significant economic shifts reshaped college access and education. A reduction in public investment in higher education led to a sharp increase in tuition costs, making the journey to success more difficult.  Grants that had once helped many afford college were gradually replaced by loans, leading to increased student debt. As family incomes fell and borrowing increased, the pathway to success through a college degree became more difficult, making higher education less of a guarantee for upward mobility and more of a financial burden for many Americans. 

Unfortunately, educational costs have been climbing for decades, far outpacing general inflation rates and putting an exorbitant strain on families and students. For example, between 1980 and 2020, the cost of attending a four-year college in the U.S., including tuition, fees, room, and board, increased by more than 1,200%, while the overall inflation rate rose by about 236% in the same period. 

This discrepancy highlights a troubling trend: the cost of higher education has ballooned far beyond the increase in general consumer prices, wages, or cost of living. For many families, this means taking on substantial debt to finance a degree.  

This stark rise in costs has fueled a growing narrative questioning whether college is worth the financial burden. Students and families are weighing the benefits of a college degree against the realities of student loan debt and uncertain job prospects. As graduates face years or even decades of repayment, the question of value becomes more urgent: Is the potential for a higher salary and career advancement worth the financial risk?  

Compounding the challenge of access is the complexity of navigating a college or university, which can feel like traversing a vast and intricate ecosystem. The enormous scale of these institutions presents significant obstacles; with thousands of students, locating the appropriate person or department to handle issues such as financial aid, career counseling, and academic advising can be overwhelming. This often exacerbates anxiety and erodes confidence, compounding the administrative difficulties. Despite the wealth of resources available, the sheer size of the institution can impede the delivery of timely and personalized support. 

As if rising tuition costs and the complexity of navigating college weren’t challenging enough, addressing students’ basic needs has become an increasingly critical issue. More than half of college students face food insecurity, 45% deal with housing insecurity, and 9% are homeless or at risk of homelessness. These statistics reveal a pressing problem that extends beyond the financial strain of tuition and fees. Students are struggling to meet essential needs crucial for their well-being and academic success. The escalating cost of living and education pressures are pushing students into vulnerable situations, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive support systems that address not just tuition but also the broader challenges of securing fundamental necessities. 

As these challenges continued to escalate, further exacerbated by the worldwide pandemic, the College Success Foundation (CSF) responded by significantly expanding our college support program. With the backing of financial contributors, legislators, and state agency partners, we were able to substantially increase the scope, scale, and impact of our services. 

CSF now employs a team of over two dozen college staff members either stationed on campuses or supporting students remotely at over 50 colleges across Washington state. This team serves thousands of students statewide.  

Certified in the FSM 7 Life Domains coaching model, our coaches offer free, one-on-one guidance to all college students, with a particular focus on first and second-year students—a critical time for student retention.  Our coaches take a holistic approach, working with students to set goals and establish accountability practices in various life domains, including: finance and employment, housing, physical and mental health, supportive relationships, cultural and personal identity, life skills, and education.  In addition to providing personalized support, our coaches help students access Emergency Fund Requests to address unexpected financial challenges and stay on track to succeed. 

In addition, to provide students with easy and efficient access to their coaches, CSF developed an online platform that allows students to quickly identify, connect with, or schedule appointments. This streamlined process helps reduce the burden on students.  While we are still relatively early in deploying this expanded model, the results are promising:   

An independent evaluation by the Research Triangle Institute found that: 

• 92% of students said their coach played a role in their persistence. 
• 88% of students said their coach taught them how to find support or resources. 
• 96% of students reported growth in knowledge, skills, and awareness.    

There are a couple of reasons why we embraced such significant growth and increased responsibility. First, data clearly indicates (as depicted below) that job security—a crucial element of achieving the American Dream—is increasingly tied to an individual’s level of educational attainment.  This obviously does and will have profound effects on our economy. 

The second reason is a moral imperative. As a society, we have unintentionally made college more difficult to access and navigate, whether through rising costs or bureaucratic complexities. This has places undue burdens on students who aspire to higher education. We, as a public, have a responsibility to ease these barriers, ensuring that every student has a fair opportunity to thrive. By alleviating these obstacles, we enable students to fully develop and leverage their unique talents, allowing them to reach their potential and contribute meaningfully to our communities. 

We invite you to join us on this journey to support every student possible.  To partner, support or learn more, visit us at: https://www.collegesuccessfoundation.org/. 

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Warner Pacific University secured a multi-million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Education to increase and retain well-prepared teachers from diverse backgrounds. The grant aims to increase the number of certified bilingual teachers and Special Education teachers in Oregon. President Dr. Brian Johnson noted that the grant will help WPU “further our vision to support diverse teachers that represent students in the communities they serve.”  

The overarching goal of the grant is to prepare students for teaching careers in high-need, hard-to-staff fields in Special Education and dual language/bilingual education. The grant will address this larger goal through a multi-faceted approach that includes: 

• Creating a new, flexible, and affordable bachelor’s degree with licensure and special education endorsement. 
• Developing a new ESOL endorsement. 
• Facilitating bilingual and emerging bilingual students in the attainment of the Oregon State Seal of Biliteracy. 
• Creating a supportive ecosystem that reduces barriers to access, retention, completion, and successful in-field employment.  
• Mentoring graduating new teachers as they begin their teaching careers. 
• Strengthening partnerships with community colleges and Portland Public Schools to strengthen the education-to-career teacher pathway.  

Warner Pacific is Oregon’s most diverse university, with federal designations as the state’s first four-year Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI). Roughly 61% of WPU’s traditional undergraduate students identify as students of color, including 32% who identify as Hispanic. WPU has many strong partners across the educational pipeline and will collaborate directly with three K12 public school districts and three community colleges across the region to achieve the ¡Adelante! Project.

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Patricia O’Sullivan, Manager, Content Development and Special Projects 

Every Learner Everywhere is a network of partner organizations that work collectively to help institutions use a variety of digital learning technologies to enhance teaching and learning, with the ultimate goal of improving student outcomes for Black, Latino, and Indigenous students, poverty-affected students, first-generation students, and other marginalized students. We provide expert advice, coaching, professional development, and resources that are squarely centered on serving learners first in higher education institutions. Every Learner facilitates collaborations and connections amongst partners that emphasize the expansiveness, diversity, contextualization, opportunities, and challenges of equitable digital learning. Success for our network is a higher educational landscape in which race and income cease to be predictors for academic achievement. 

Digital learning is the use of technology to enable pedagogical practices and strategies in teaching and learning. It includes a broad range of tools to engage and assess students across all learning modalities, including face-to-face, blended, and online learning environments. Equitable digital learning takes an anti-deficit approach to teaching and learning, course design, and classroom climate. It prioritizes a sense of belonging in the class, in the discipline, and in the field for students historically excluded from these spaces. Equitable digital learning designs courses for inclusion, access, and success and utilizes teaching and assessment strategies that benefit racially minoritized and poverty-affected students.

At Every Learner, we promote equitable outcomes for students through digital learning and data-driven approaches. Here are some key areas of our work: 

Building a Network of Expertise 

Our network of 13 organizations includes partners who provide specific services to institutions as well as partners who provide thought leadership through resources, webinars, policy briefs, and data analysis. Every Learner also functions as an external network connecting institutions, educators, and researchers working on digital learning and equity in higher education. This network fosters collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the development of best practices for promoting equitable outcomes through digital learning and data-informed approaches. We’ve engaged with 1073 institutions in all U.S. states and territories, including 143 members of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, along with institutions in 46 other nations. In addition, our work has been mentioned in the media 1,075 times. 

Developing Resources for Equitable Digital Learning 

Our searchable resource library holds over 250 print and video resources to support institutions’ use of digital learning tools. Every Learner believes that well-designed and well-integrated digital learning tools can personalize the learning experience, cater to individual needs, and offer targeted support, potentially leading to better outcomes for students from diverse backgrounds, including Black, Latino, Indigenous, poverty-affected, and first-generation students. Every Learner partners with institutions to implement and assess these tools effectively, aiming to close equity gaps in crucial gateway courses. Our resources have been viewed and downloaded nearly 270,000 times and cited by academics 550 times. Our resources feature contributions by over 250 faculty and nearly 100 undergraduate students.  

Providing Professional Development Services 

Since 2019, we have offered over 130 services, including long-term deep engagement with institutions, faculty communities of practice, workshops, webinars, and coaching sessions. You can browse our past and upcoming workshops and webinars on our website. Our network has contributed over 200 presentations, expert panels, and interviews at higher education institutions and organizations. 

Our deep engagement services, offered through our partner organizations, can be tailored for cohorts of institutions.  

One example of our work was the “Lighthouse Institutions” project. In this project, we engaged a significant number of gateway course instructors (over 182) in 12 lighthouse colleges and universities. Our activities nurtured instructor awareness and appreciation of courseware products in their subject areas, and influenced the nature of instruction experienced by over 26,000 students over four academic terms.[1] During this time period (2019-2021), the gap between course success rates for racially minoritized students compared to non-racially minoritized students narrowed from 14 percent to 10 percent.[2] 

We are continuing to add to our services. Our current service menu includes services in the following categories: 

1. Course Design and Delivery 
2. Planning for Professional Learning 
3. Leadership, Budget, and Policy 
4. Evaluation and Analytics 
5. Student Success for Digital Learning 

These services are offered virtually and in person as well as synchronously and asynchronously. Services can also be combined, with elements of two or more integrated into a custom service to meet institutional needs.

We are also building a series of courses that will be offered both synchronously and self-paced. Our first offering, Digital Learning 101, will be available in summer 2024. Future courses will include a deep focus on Artificial Intelligence and Open Education.  

Promoting Evidence-based and Equity-Centered Teaching 

Our network has identified eight evidence-based practices that support student success:   

• Active Learning (Freeman et al., 2014; Rau et al., 2017) 
• Formative Assessment & Practice (Petrović et al., 2017) 
• Metacognition & Self-Regulated Learning (Bannert et al., 2015) 
• Fostering a Sense of Belonging Through an Inclusive Learning Environment (Binning et al., 2020; Dewsbury, 2019) 
• Data-Informed Instruction (Dodge et al., 2015) 
• Instructional Transparency (Greenberg, 2015) 
• Assessing & Activating Prior Knowledge (Ambrose et al, 2010; Brown et al, 2014) 
• Peer Collaboration (Chee-Len Loh & Ang 2020; Altinay, 2016) 

We provide written and video resources, webinars, coaching, consulting, and professional development services to help educators develop these practices and create inclusive learning environments for all students. 

Incorporating Student Voice and Feedback 

Every Learner engages with students regularly through our student internship program, our student panels at webinars and live events, and through special projects designed to engage students. Recognizing the value of student perspectives, Every Learner encourages institutions to gather and incorporate student feedback in shaping teaching and learning practices, as well as including students on committees and other institutional decision-making bodies whose work impacts students. This helps ensure that educational approaches are responsive to students’ needs and experiences, contributing to a more equitable learning environment. As of this writing, our network has worked with nearly 100 students, engaging them as panelists, content developers, researchers, analysts, reviewers, and thought leaders.  

Conclusion 

Every Learner Everywhere is at the forefront of promoting equitable outcomes for students through digital learning and evidence-based teaching practices. By prioritizing a sense of belonging, inclusion, and success for historically marginalized students, the network aims to transform higher education into a landscape where race and income are no longer predictors of academic achievement. With our combined expertise, resources, professional development services, and consulting, Every Learner is actively working towards closing equity gaps in education. By engaging with students directly and incorporating their feedback into educational practices, Every Learner ensures that student voices are heard and valued in shaping a more inclusive and equitable learning environment.

[1] Digital Promise. (2022). Supporting Student Success at the Course Level: Lessons from Change Efforts During a Pandemic. Digital Promise Global. Pg. 20. 

[2] Digital Promise. (2022). Supporting Student Success at the Course Level: Lessons from Change Efforts During a Pandemic. Digital Promise Global. Pg. 25. 

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Garth H. Sleight, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Miles Community College

I have observed two predominant ways by which society expresses the acronym that uses the fourth, fifth, and ninth letters of the alphabet. The first is what I call uppercase ‘DEI,’ which stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

The other version is lowercase ‘dei,’ which stands for divisiveness, extremism, and intolerance.

The heartbreaking tragedy is the hubristic travesty that the voices of the paragons of upper-case ‘DEI,’ who are attempting to engage in sensible, collaborative conversations, are too often drowned out by the strident, combative cacophony of the pariahs of lowercase ‘dei.’

Uppercase ‘DEI’ is an admirable aspiration for our society.

Lowercase ‘dei’ is a deplorable degradation of our society.

Robert F. Kennedy, Attorney General during the John F. Kennedy administration – sixty-plus years ago! – uttered this profoundly prescient lachrymose lament:

“What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists, is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.”

Extremism abounds on both ends of the ideological spectrum. As long as the extremists insist on hijacking the podium to impose their heat-generating diatribe instead of inviting light-generating dialogue, society will continue on its inevitable path to self-destruction. Jimi Hendrix offered the perfect solution when he said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” It really is that simple. Will it ever happen? I, for one, certainly hope so.

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Western Nevada College (WNC) enrolled its first group of students in its Automotive Mechanics Certificate of Achievement program in August 2023 at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center (NNCC) in Carson City, Nev. Although not the first program of its kind in the country, it is an exciting opportunity for men incarcerated at NNCC. The auto bay has been busy with activity as students learn the basics in their AUTO 101, Introduction to General Mechanics class through lectures and hands-on assignments. This is the first of several semesters for these students as they earn Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certifications and the Certificate of Achievement.

The automotive repair industry is one of many industries facing challenges filling vacant positions. The problem is related to industry growth and the number of employees reaching retirement age and leaving the field. According to the 2022 report, “Technician Supply & Demand,” published by TechForce Foundation, “Over 60,000 new entrant automotive techs [will be] needed between 2022 and 2026.” The same report calls out a massive drop in postsecondary automotive completions that is problematic for employers because fewer prospective employees will have the training employers desire.

It is situations such as these that led Campagni Auto Group in Carson City to reach out to the Nevada Department of Corrections (NDOC) about their interest in interviewing and potentially hiring formerly incarcerated individuals who obtain ASE certifications. Soft skills, such as good communication, active listening, and the ability to work with a diverse group of colleagues, are also necessary to become a valued member of their team after release. Campagni recognized a pool of talent that, if trained while incarcerated, could return to the community ready to help rebuild the workforce at their dealership and others around the state. WNC was invited to join the conversations, which began in 2019, to help define the educational pathway.

There were several factors that made this program possible. NNCC had an existing auto bay with room for three lifts, a tool room, and a plan for ensuring safety and security when tools were checked out and returned every class session. NDOC used funds from the Youthful Offenders Program grant to purchase modern equipment, including a lift rack, alignment machine, wheel balancer, and tire changer. WNC has an existing automotive mechanics degree program on its main campus and several years of experience operating programs inside the prison, so it was not a stretch to imagine bringing the program to NNCC. WNC receives legislatively approved funding from the state, which comes up for renewal every two years, to offer college programs in prison, so funds were available to offer students scholarships, conduct necessary equipment inspections, perform maintenance, and purchase additional tools and supplies for the program. For colleges considering a program like this, WNC had already overcome a number of obstacles which could take time for others to address: available space, equipment, funding, and an existing working relationship with corrections.

Campagni Auto Group’s interest was another key factor and, despite a several year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they persevered as a partner committed to seeing the program come to fruition. Several top members of the company visited the students during a class session to talk with them about opportunities in the industry and to learn more about the students hopes for the future. Prior to completing the program, the same group from Campagni plans to meet with students again to hold mock interviews. This kind of engagement from an employer will contribute to student success. Campagni is poised to set the stage for other employers to consider similar interest in this pool of talent.

“We are anxiously awaiting the chance to interview the first set of graduates who will have earned multiple Automotive Service Excellence certifications and a Certificate of Achievement from WNC before they walk out the door,” Dana Whaley, former general manager for Campagni Auto Group, and a critical member of the team bringing this program to fruition, said. “We’re proud to have been at the forefront of this endeavor.”

To help build the soft skills employers like Campagni seek, students will be enrolled in general education courses like English/Communications, Mathematics, and Human Relations alongside the required automotive courses. The choice to offer the Certificate of Achievement rather than just the ASE certifications was made, in part, with this in mind. The other factor was that WNC is preparing to become an approved Pell-granting institution. Offering the Certificate of Achievement will allow auto students to apply for Pell once the college is approved by the US Department of Education (ED).

According to the Sentencing Project‘s profile on “Americans with Criminal Records,” the result of mass incarceration is that one in three working adults in this country have a criminal record. To solve staffing shortages, employers may need to follow Campagni’s lead and create a culture more inclusive of formerly incarcerated people.

The transition from prison to life back in the community can be challenging, especially for those with few or no supportive relationships on the outside and little to no money when they step outside the prison gates. Imagine trying to start a new life with housing options that may initially be limited to weekly motels, potentially unreliable modes of transportation, and a knowledge gap around current technology that most of us use with little thought.

To foster the best chance of success, institutions of higher education may need to recognize that a corrections-employer-college partnership is incomplete without including organizations in the community that can provide assistance and address the deficit in essential resources faced by those who have recently returned to the community.

ED calls upon institutions wishing to become approved Prison Education Programs (PEP) that can offer Pell grants to incarcerated students to do so. To become an approved PEP, the application to ED must include:

“Information about the types of services offered to admitted students, including orientation, tutoring, and academic and reentry counseling. If reentry counseling is provided by a community-based organization that has partnered with the eligible prison education program, institution, or correctional facility to provide reentry services, the application also must provide information about the types of services offered by that community-based organization;” (34 CFR 668.238).

This mandate by ED acknowledges the need for student support that goes beyond a single institution and includes the community to provide a supportive network for those preparing for release and those recently released students.

Despite the challenges they may face later after release, WNC’s students are enthusiastic and engaged. There is a waiting list to get into the program. Each week, the students don their protective eyewear, tie on aprons to protect their clothing, and snap on latex gloves to mitigate the grease so they can practice what they’ve learned thus far on an engine pulled from a vehicle. Meanwhile, those of us who launched this program wrestle with the challenges that come with making it a priority to serve this population of students. The support of our partners, the dedication of our instructors, and the opportunity created for all make it not just a worthwhile endeavor but a necessary one.

“Western Nevada College is honored to collaborate with forward-thinking partners like Campagni Auto Group to develop innovative solutions that bridge the employment gap,” said WNC President Dr. Kyle Dalpe, “Our joint efforts are not just about education; they’re about transformation and opportunity, giving incarcerated students the skills they need to succeed and contribute to our community.”

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Gita Bangera, Senior Vice President, NWCCU

This summer, I had the honor of attending a graduation ceremony unlike any other I have ever attended. There were students, faculty, families, robes, and speeches with one significant difference – it was being held in a prison facility, the Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington state. Similar scenes were playing out at prison facilities in other NWCCU states.

The transformation in the students from when they went into the changing space wearing their grey and beige prison outfits to when they emerged wearing their graduations caps and gowns was palpable. They stood a little taller, their shoulders were a bit squarer, and there was a spring in their step as they filed into the room. Equally palpable was the pride that the parents, siblings, partners were feeling as they watched their loved one going through this transformation. What really brought goosebumps out on my skin was watching the children of these graduates as they watched their parent in their regalia – this memory is going to change their own perception of the world as they grow up.

The benefits of providing education to people who are incarcerated are well documented. Post-secondary education in prison results in a 48% reduction in the odds of recidivism, improved likelihood of employment, and the potential to improve public safety. 96 to 98% of the prison population will be released back into the community and providing education in prisons increases the likelihood of their success in the community. In addition, according to the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera), education in prison also leads to higher safety in correctional facilities, a four to five-fold return on investment to taxpayers, and increased likelihood of education for their children and other family members thus impacting whole communities.

As clear as these benefits are, the number of students in prison who can take advantage of these educational opportunities is woefully small due to lack of funding. The graduation ceremonies mentioned earlier were thanks to the Second Chance Pell program, students paying their own way, or philanthropic funding. But change is on its way! New regulations that went into effect on July 1, 2023, reinstate Pell Grants for students in carceral facilities, overturning an almost 30-year ban.

Providing federal financial aid to students in prisons has been controversial historically. According to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), demand for college classes in prisons surged after the passage of the Title IV Higher Education Act in 1965 and by the early 1990s, there were some 772 programs being offered in 1,287 correctional facilities across the nation. In 1994 the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act was passed that banned the use of Pell grants for those who were incarcerated and the number of prison education programs plummeted to low double digits or below and the number of students enrolled in college courses in prison dropped drastically (Fig.1). In 2015, the Department of Education launched the Second Chance Pell Experimental Sites Initiative (SCP) inviting Institutions of Higher Education to apply to be SCP sites. The incarcerated population in each of the NWCCU states ranges from just under 5,500 in Alaska to 28,000 in Washington, in proportion to the population of the state; these number are higher if we include those under community supervision (Table 1).

According to Vera, six years of the SCP has enabled 40,000 students in carceral facilities to pursue postsecondary education. In 2020, the FAFSA Simplification Act, as part of the 2020 Consolidation Appropriations Act, reinstated Pell grant eligibility to incarcerated students regardless of sentence length, conviction, or site (please see definition below). Given the high rates of incarceration in the United States and the benefits that education can bring, our member institutions have an opportunity for generational impact. As Vera recently noted, 760,000+ people in Amercian prisons will be eligible for Pell grants when access is reinstated in 2023.

On October 28, 2022, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) published the final regulations regarding Prison Education Programs (PEPs). PEP can only be offered at locations that are classified as Federal, State, or local penitentiaries, prisons, jails, reformatories, work farms, juvenile justice facilities, or other similar correctional institutions.

A key component of PEPs is the program approval process by the Bureau of Prisons, State department of corrections, or other entity that is responsible for overseeing the correctional facility (the Oversight Entity). Throughout 2023, USDE has been providing additional guidelines on how to implement PEPs for institutions, accreditors and Oversight Entities.

Simply put, for an institution to start offering a Prison Education Program (PEP) at a correctional facility using students’ Pell Grant it needs to follow a three-step process:

1. Apply and be approved by the Oversight Entity – generally their State’s Department of Corrections (DOC), though it could also be a federal entity, and obtain a Memorandum of Understanding or other written agreement.
2. Apply and be approved by NWCCU for their additional location (if providing an existing program) and the program (if offering a new program not offered at the main campus).
3. Apply and be approved by the USDE.

The institution can then implement the program at that facility. The PEP process also requires the institution and the Oversight Entity to set up formal data sharing agreements. NWCCU is required to conduct a site visit to the location within one year but as per NWCCU policy the visit would take place within six months of the PEP implementation. The guidelines also empower the Oversight Entity to conduct an assessment process, which engages key stakeholders, to assess whether the program serves the “best interest” of the students in the PEP. NWCCU will participate and provide non -binding input into this assessment process to the Oversight Entity in each of our seven states. NWCCU is also required to approve the methodology used by the institution and the Oversight Entity to determine that the PEP meets the same standards as substantially similar programs at the institution’s main campus. Revised Experiment SCP institutions will follow a similar path, but they have up to three years to achieve specific milestones that parallel the three -step process above.

As an immigrant to the United States, I have always seen this country as the land of second chances as the erasers on the ends of American pencils seemed to indicate. As PEPs are implemented all over the country, there is hope that graduations like the one I attended will become the new normal and students who are incarcerated will get a true second chance in life!

As with all things related to students in prison, Vera is available to provide technical assistance to all the stakeholders in this process.

If your institution would like to offer a PEP, please contact Gita Bangera or your institution’s NWCCU liaison.

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