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July 20, 2016
State Rep. Tobias Read helps break down barriers to college for low income, first generation students by supporting Future Connect students at Portland Community College.
Expanding Reach for Future Connect
Program
breaks barriers
to a college
education
There are 1.3 million reasons
why Portland Community Col-
lege’s Future Connect Scholarship
Program is looking bright.
The PCC Foundation-funded
program that breaks down bar-
riers to college for low-income,
first-generation students was re-
cently awarded a $1.3 million
grant from the Oregon Higher Ed-
ucation Coordinating Commission
to broaden the reach and impact of
its services in the Portland area.
The money was allocated as
part of the state’s new “Aspi-
rations to College” legislation,
which recently disbursed $3 mil-
lion to similar community college
programs throughout the state.
The funds will help PCC pro-
vide nearly 3,000 students with
critical services and support. This
includes 480 new students being
able to access coaching, instruc-
tion and transfer assistance. Pro-
gram staff will also be able pro-
vide outreach services to more
than 2,500 high school students
residing within PCC’s service
area. The Future Connect staff
will increase from eight to 13 by
the end of the summer.
“The Future Connect team is
excited about how the grant will
positively impact our capacity to
serve students better, earlier and
further into their college careers,”
said Josh Laurie, PCC Future
Connect manager.
In addition, some of the grant
money will go toward bolstering
other college programs that serve
similar student groups. These in-
clude PCC’s Fostering Success and
Project Degree programs, as well
as funds for the purchase of 47 lap-
tops available for check-out by all
PCC students at college libraries.
Celebrating its fifth anniversary,
the Future Connect Program has
had 1,200 students come through
its doors. Support to make the pro-
The Law Offices of
Patrick John Sweeney, P.C.
gram thrive also comes from the
cities of Portland, Beaverton and
Hillsboro and from donors.
Future Connect provides schol-
arships, in-depth advising and col-
lege success coaching to low-in-
come and first-generation students
so they have a guided path through
college, all the way to completion
of a certificate or degree.
To mark its five years, Future
Connect leaders will pursue an
external evaluation of the program
to measure its impact and to deter-
mine areas of improvement.
L egaL N otices
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd, Portland, Oregon
Portland:
Hillsoboro:
Facsimile:
Email:
(503) 244-2080
(503) 244-2081
(503) 244-2084
Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com
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