ACC to Participate in Aspen Unlocking Opportunities Program

Alvin Community College was recently named as a participant in the Aspen Institute’s Unlocking Opportunity program to help increase the number of students taking courses and completing programs with the nation’s community colleges.

“Participating with the Unlocking Opportunity Network will help us learn best practices with other community colleges in order to improve educational outcomes for our students,” said ACC President Dr. Robert J. Exley. “That in turn will help students improve their professional careers and their lives.”

ACC was one of 55 colleges in the country chosen to participate in the Unlocking Opportunity program.  The colleges will work together in growing national effort to align their programs and student advising with the two most important goals of community college students: leaving college with a credential and a good job or transferring and completing a bachelor’s degree. Through three years of focused reforms, these colleges will work with Aspen to assess current programs, set goals, and implement research-based reforms to increase student success.

“Every year, millions of students rely on community colleges for a low-cost pathway to what they assume will be a high-value credential,” said Josh Wyner, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. “They rightly assume that the degree and certificate programs their colleges offer will deliver a good job and fulfilling career either directly after community college or after transferring and earning a bachelor’s degree.”

Under the program, ACC will share data with the other colleges in the programs while also building goals and strategies for improving instruction and programs.

The Aspen Institute is a non-profit organization that works to identify and replicate campus-wide practices that significantly improve college student outcomes. To learn more about the network, visit https://highered.aspeninstitute.org/programs/unlocking-opportunity.