Sierra College Selected to Join Aspen Institute Initiative Working to Increase Student Success in High-Value Programs
Sierra College has been selected to join the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program’s Unlocking Opportunity network—an initiative designed to help community colleges improve student outcomes by increasing the number of students entering and completing high-value workforce and degree transfer programs.
“Sierra College is honored to be selected by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program to partner with community colleges around the country for this important work,” said Sierra College Superintendent/President Willy Duncan. “Sierra College is committed to continuous improvement and innovation to ensure our programs provide highly relevant and impactful instruction for students to achieve their educational and career goals. We look forward to further unlocking the power of inclusive, transformational education for our community.”
The network of 65 community colleges from across the nation (10 pilot colleges and 55 newly selected colleges) will work to align their educational programs and student advising with the two primary goals community college students say is important to them: leaving college with a credential and a good job or transferring and/or completing a bachelor’s degree. As a member of the network, Sierra College will use the next three years to assess its programs, set goals and implement research-based actions to increase student enrollment success and completion in high-value workforce and transfer programs.
To date, the 10 Unlocking Opportunity pilot institutions are on track to collectively move over 20,000 students into high-value programs of study that lead to good jobs. With this expansion, Aspen will engage college leaders and teams through a series of virtual and in-person sessions focused on scaling efforts to align their community college programs that link to good family-sustaining jobs and bachelor’s degree pathways in their regions.
Learn more about the Unlocking Opportunities network.
Sierra College is rising to the needs of our community. Sierra College serves 3,200 square miles of Northern California with campuses in Rocklin, Grass Valley, and Truckee. With approximately 125 degree and certificate programs, Sierra College is ranked first in Northern California (Sacramento north) for transfers to four-year universities, offers career/technical training, and classes for upgrading job skills. Sierra graduates can be found in businesses and industries throughout the region. More information at www.sierracollege.edu.