Background

Housatonic Community College (HCC) serves residents of the Bridgeport metropolitan area and the lower Naugatuck Valley of Connecticut. Bridgeport is the largest city in Connecticut and an entry point for immigrants from all over the world. The $16,306 per capita income of Bridgeport residents compared with the $38,350 per capita income of Fairfield County, which surrounds the city, exemplifies the socioeconomic disparity that is particularly challenging in densely populated Connecticut.

HCC’s diverse enrollment has grown over 70 percent since 1996. Eighty-five percent of entering students need at least one remedial course. To ensure that remediation is available to all students, nearly one-fourth of all courses offered in fall 2007 are developmental courses.

Achieving the Dream

HCC’s priorities are student retention and success, and the college’s Strategic Plan has incorporated these goals. Achieving the Dream initiatives are entering their third year and realizing positive results. They include:

The Bridges initiative, which seeks to ease the transition from high school to college through four workshops: Orientation to College, Career Planning, Financial Aid, and College Placement Test Preparation. In fall 2008, eight area high schools will be engaged in the program.
The Open Entry/Open Exit self-paced, interactive Math programs, which now include PreAlgebra, Elementary Algebra, and Intermediate Algebra. Students will be tracked for retention and success against those in traditional class formats.
The First Year Experience – Success Coaching initiative, which provides mentors to help students in developmental courses through their first college year. The focus is on career planning as data has shown that students who have career goals are more likely to stay in school and graduate.

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