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Background
The Alamo Community College District (ACCD) serves San Antonio with four, independently accredited colleges – San Antonio College, St. Philip’s College, Palo Alto College and Northwest Vista College. The colleges offer associate degrees and certificates that prepare students for jobs, as well as arts and science courses that transfer to four-year institutions. All four colleges are participating in Achieving the Dream. St. Philip’s is the only community college in the U.S. designated by the federal government as both a Historically Black College and a Hispanic-serving institution.
Located in one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the U.S., ACCD’s enrollment has grown by 41 percent since 1999. Its enrollment in Spring 2005 was 52,781 The student population is 53 percent Hispanic, 37 percent White and 7 percent Black.
Achieving the Dream Goals
Teams from each of the colleges and the district’s administration identified three priorities: the high rate of Blacks and Hispanics (55 percent) and Whites (37 percent) who place three or more levels below college math; the low rate of persistence (78 percent) among low-income and minority students who are in college for the first time; and the low passage rate (57 percent) of low-income and minority students in three gatekeeper courses. The colleges want to
- Increase success rates in developmental math courses;
- Retain more first-time-college students;
- Raise success rates in gatekeeper courses;
- Narrow the achievement gap between ethnic groups in gatekeeper courses;
- Improve programs and services for all students.
ACCD will revise its developmental math curriculum, add counseling for first-time-college students, develop a new orientation course, strengthen its advising system, link developmental courses with revamped gatekeeper courses, and offer faculty professional development.
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