TULSA, Okla. (OBV) – Students at Tulsa Community College will soon have more help making sure they are on track for success after they finish in the classroom.
“This is really something for our entire community,” said TCC President Leigh Goodson.
The entire Tulsa Community College staff was all smiles on a rainy day in February as the higher ed institution announced it’s now part of a prestigious program.
“It just raises the bar for everyone in Oklahoma,” said Chad Warmington, President and CEO of The State Chamber of Oklahoma.
The groundbreaking initiative, “Unlocking Opportunity: The Post-Graduation Success and Equity Network,” will see thousands more students entering and completing programs that lead directly to jobs paying a family-sustaining wage or to the efficient and effective completion of a bachelor’s degree.
“We want to make sure that students understand what career they are getting into and what the income potential is for the career they have chosen,” said Goodson.
The program is sponsored by the Aspen Institute. TCC is one of 10 schools nationwide to be chosen to take part. The initiative will be focusing not just on graduation rates, but success rates in the real world.
The program met with a ringing endorsement from the business community.
“We are far behind the number of workers that we need to reach the kind of economy that we want. TCC’s program is going to be a game changer in making sure that kids are getting on track to a degree that is going to get them a family-sustaining wage. That’s going to have a tremendous effect on our economy overall,” said Warmington.
“Tulsa has to be a city where everyone has an equal opportunity for a great life and for success,” said Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum.
“Unlocking Opportunity: The Post-Graduation Success and Equity Network” helps thousands more students, including first-generation students of color and those from lower-income backgrounds, to focus on success after classes are done.
“We want to make sure that no matter what zip code you come from, no matter what family you were born into, that you have that opportunity, and education is the key to opportunity,” said Rue L. Ramsey, Tulsa Regional Chamber of Commerce. “To remove those barriers, to have seamless pathways into a degree program and onto a four year degree helps each individual that is able to do that. It also helps our whole state.”
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