Portland State University is in the early stages of launching a new program and research project designed to help as many as 2,000 students at two nearby community colleges successfully transfer to PSU and complete bachelor’s degrees. Both Mount Hood and Clackamas community colleges have signed on as partners with Portland State.
Portland State University campus in Portland, Ore., June 29, 2024.
Anna Lueck / OPB
The program, called Access, Connect, Complete, Engage or ACCE, is funded through a nearly $7.8 million U.S. Department of Education grant that PSU was awarded in August. ACCE will specifically provide transfer advising, academic coaching and financial aid to Mount Hood and Clackamas students who declare an intention to transfer to a four-year college, as well as students who are first-generation, low-income or come from other marginalized backgrounds.
“It’s about holistic, wraparound support for students and just having someone there that’s with them from the beginning, all the way until they earn their degree,” said Andrea Garrity, who directs Portland State’s Student Success center and is leading the new program.
The planned launch of ACCE comes as higher education institutions across the nation are struggling with flat or declining enrollment. Improving transfer pathways among community colleges and four-year universities is one way to attract and retain students.
A report released in late 2023 from a group of higher education research centers found that less than half of community college students who transferred to a four-year institution graduated with a bachelor’s degree within six years of starting their postsecondary education. That’s in spite of data showing that nearly 80% of community college students originally enrolled with the intent to transfer to a university.
PSU’s most recent six-year graduation rate for full-time transfer students hovers around 71%. The university wants to see that percentage increase by 8 points by 2029. Garrity hopes the program will help prevent community college students from slipping through the cracks and continue on with their education.
The program will be centered around the unique needs of community college students early on in their postsecondary career. Students attending community college are unlike those who attend a four-year college or university right after high school, said Matthew Farina, Mount Hood’s director of academic advising. Many community college students are older and they must balance classes with full-time jobs and family life. It can take more than six years for some community college students to earn a bachelor’s degree.
“The average age of our students in Mount Hood generally hovers around 28 to 30 years old,” said Farina. “‘Two-year’ and ‘four-year’ degrees don’t mean much because the time frames are different if you’re a part time student.”
A recent report found that only a quarter of transfer students who attend part-time are able to complete degree programs in eight years, compared to half of their full-time counterparts.
Some of the money from the grant is slated to go directly to students and help overcome potential financial barriers to staying on track, such as paying for textbooks and laptops, to more basic expenses like food, gas, rent or even child care costs. Exactly how students will receive this direct financial support is still being ironed out, Garrity said.
Money from the grant will also go toward hiring six new staff who will be embedded at the Mount Hood and Clackamas campuses, giving students access to additional resources and advisers.
Getting more students to transfer from Mount Hood and Clackamas makes sense for Portland State’s bottom line too. Transfer students made up 60% of PSU’s enrollment in the 2021-22 academic year. Portland Community College is PSU’s traditional feeder college. Last academic year, students coming from PCC made up more than a third of PSU’s transfer students. Mount Hood and Clackamas made up 6% and 5% respectively.
David Plotkin, vice president of instruction and student services at Clackamas Community College, would like to see those numbers go up. He hopes the program will help students become comfortable with the idea of transferring to PSU.
“It may seem strange but many of our students feel like Downtown Portland is another country, in some ways, from Clackamas County,” said Plotkin.
Fostering a sense of belonging for community college students who want to ultimately continue their education at Portland State University is another goal of the program. Some students might feel well equipped to handle life at a community college but they may not see themselves as college material at a traditional university.
“We want to measure students’ sense of belonging, not just at the community college, but do they also see themselves at Portland State?” said ACCE program lead Garrity.
The research portion of the project will track the success of students throughout their community college and Portland State careers. Garrity said the data collected will help inform best practices for transfer students that can ultimately be replicated at universities and community colleges throughout the state.
Portland State is planning to launch the ACCE program at both Mount Hood and Clackamas community colleges, with an initial goal of serving 2,000 transfer students, in January 2025.