Staff Reports | Community Updates
Scottsdale Community College has received a nearly $3 million Title III grant from the U.S. Department of Education that will support new efforts to help students earn degrees, gain career experience and prepare for the workforce.
The five-year grant will fund Aspire. Achieve. Advance., a collegewide initiative focused on connecting career-focused education with bachelor’s degree attainment, according to a press release.
“This award is a vote of confidence in our students and the exceptional way SCC supports learners on their educational journey,” said Dr. Eric Leshinskie, president of Scottsdale Community College. “Our students arrive with purposeful goals, and this grant lets us surround them with what it takes to support them: a clear path to a degree, hands-on experience with local employers, and people who notice early when someone needs a hand. We are grateful to the Department of Education for its investment, and we are ready to get to work.”
The initiative includes four components:
- Bridge2Bachelor’s will create personalized, stackable pathways that combine students’ occupational interests with digital literacy, business knowledge and leadership preparation through SCC’s Bachelor of Business Administration in Management program.
- Connect2Career will expand work-based learning opportunities, including internships, job shadowing and industry mentorships designed to accommodate students’ work and family schedules.
- Navigate2Graduate will provide advising and support services intended to help students remain on track toward completion. Building on SCC’s participation in Maricopa Community Colleges’ effort to replicate the City University of New York’s ASAP student-support model, the program will offer proactive advising, peer mentoring, student navigation services, early intervention and an enhanced first-year experience. The approach is designed to identify barriers early and connect students with coordinated support throughout their academic journey.
- Thrive2gether will establish an experiential learning environment where education, career preparation, entrepreneurship and community engagement intersect. The space will be anchored by a student-operated Workforce Coffee & Career Lab, where students can apply classroom learning in a real-world setting.
“Students will feel this grant in very personal ways, be it an advisor who reaches out before a problem grows, a mentor who works in the field they want to enter, or a place on campus where they can meet an employer over a cup of coffee they helped make,” Dr. Leshinskie said.
Pending approval by the Maricopa County Community College District Governing Board, Scottsdale Community College plans to provide additional details about the initiative as implementation moves forward.
