HCC and The White House announce commitment to expand college access
Dec 4, 2014
Watch live stream at 9 am CST: http://www.whitehouse.gov/live
Dr. Cesar Maldonado, chancellor at Houston Community College, joins President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden along with hundreds of college presidents and other higher education leaders to announce new actions to help more students prepare for and graduate from college.
The White House College Opportunity Day of Action supports the President’s commitment to partner with colleges and universities, business leaders, and nonprofits to support students across the country to help our nation reach its goal of leading the world in college attainment.
Participants are asked to commit to new action in one of four areas: building networks of colleges around promoting completion, creating K-16 partnerships around college readiness, investing in high school counselors as part of the First Lady’s Reach Higher initiative, and increasing the number of college graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Houston Community College provides an opportunity for students to progress in a STEM related field through its collaborative engineering program with the University of Texas at Tyler. HCC is committed to increasing the number of engineering college graduates by 200 students annually, particularly those from underrepresented groups.
“Houston Community College will help students with the course selection process and provide emotional support and guidance that many students often need to succeed,” said Dr. Maldonado. “Our objective is to have licensed counselors guide students on their pathway to academic completion.
The President will announce new steps on how his Administration is helping to support these actions, including announcing $10 million to help promote college completion and a $30 million AmeriCorps program that will improve low-income students’ access to college. Today’s event is the second College Opportunity Day of Action, and will include a progress report on the commitments made at the first day of action on January 14, 2014.
Expanding opportunity for more students to enroll and succeed in college, especially low-income and underrepresented students, is vital to building a strong economy and a strong middle class. Today, only 9 percent of those born in the lowest family income quartile attain a bachelor’s degree by age 25, compared to 54 percent in the top quartile. In an effort to expand college access, the Obama Administration has increased Pell scholarships by $1,000 a year, created the new American Opportunity Tax Credit worth up to $10,000 over four years of college, limited student loan payments to 10 percent of income, and laid out an ambitious agenda to reduce college costs and promote innovation and competition.