Scottsdale Community College (SCC) has been awarded a five-year, nearly $3 million Title III grant from the U.S. Department of Education, a federal investment that will help more students move from their first day on campus to a degree, and from a degree to a well-paying career. The funding launches Aspire. Achieve. Advance., a college-wide initiative that creates a new model for connecting career-focused education and bachelor’s degree attainment.
“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 brings together four connected efforts:
Bridge2Bachelor’s will help create personalized, stackable pathways that combine students’ specialized occupational interests with digital fluency and the business and leadership preparation of SCC’s Bachelor of Business Administration in Management.
Connect2Career will help expand flexible work-based learning, including internships, job shadowing, and industry mentorship, designed to fit around students’ work and family schedules.
Navigate2Graduate will help provide the high-touch support students need to successfully navigate those pathways. Building on SCC’s participation in Maricopa Community Colleges’ initiative to replicate CUNY’s nationally recognized ASAP student-support model, students will receive proactive advising, student navigation, peer mentoring, early intervention, and an enhanced first-year experience. Rather than waiting for students to ask for help, the model is designed to identify barriers early and surround students with coordinated support from entry through completion.
Thrive2gether will help create a new on-campus experiential learning environment where education, career preparation, entrepreneurship, and community come together. Anchored by a student-powered Workforce Coffee & Career Lab, the space will function as a career laboratory where students can apply what they are learning in a real operating environment.
“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,” added Dr. Leshinskie.
SCC will share more about the initiative as plans take shape. Learn more about SCC’s degrees, credentials, and student support.