Student Success

Two students sitting on a bench outside of Karl Miller Center. They are facing each other and having a conversation

Access, Complete, Connect, Engage (ACCE) Grant

Project Status: Planning

PSU was awarded $7,823,199 to fund the Access, Connect, Complete, Engage (ACCE) program in partnership with Clackamas Community College (CCC) and Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) to serve 2,000 transfer students. This approach includes clear transfer pathways, integrated coaching, direct financial aid, and data-driven evaluation. ACCE aims to tackle systemic barriers to academic success for underserved transfer students, reducing disparities in post-secondary outcomes across PSU and partnering community colleges. The program has officially finished its first term serving students at MHCC and CCC!

Accomplished

  • PCC Joins the ACCE Program: Portland Community College has officially joined the ACCE initiative!
  • Cohorts 2 and 3: Our program is fulfilling its mission to serve historically underserved students, as demonstrated by the addition of cohorts 2 and 3 into our program. We currently have 286 students who are receiving coaching, including a significant majority of first-generation college students and a strong representation of BIPOC individuals. These demographics confirm our commitment to reaching diverse learners who benefit most from our support, highlighted by the 370+ coaching sessions completed this spring to help them achieve their milestones.
  • Financial Support: $15,376 has been administered to ACCE students in the form of gift cards for financial support.
  • PSU Transfer Students: Eight ACCE students have officially transferred to PSU.
  • MHCC and CCC Campus Engagement: ACCE coaches have spent over 720 hours at MHCC and CCC.
  • Reaching Unengaged ACCE Students: Coaches completed an extensive communication campaign, including calling, texting, and emailing, to students who have not yet engaged with our services. 

In Progress

  • Additional Recruitment Launched: Our coaches will execute another recruitment round for one final cohort across MHCC and CCC seeking to join the program.
  • PCC Onboarding: We will spend the majority of the Winter term implementing the program at PCC this upcoming Winter term. We aim to add hundreds of PCC participants.
  • Hiring a Coach: We are in the process of hiring a fifth coach to support the anticipated higher demand in students.  
  • Sustainability Planning: We've already started building sustainability into the ACCE program by strategically integrating our coaches into existing and new touchpoints. Coaches are not only providing crucial one-on-one coaching to MHCC/CCC students, but they're also actively participating in the following sustainability initiatives:
    • Planning transfer workshops
    • Hosting drop-in transfer advising sessions
    • Engaging with students during orientation
    • Conducting valuable classroom visits
  • We hope this multi-faceted approach is laying the groundwork for long-term impact and continued student success, well beyond the grant's conclusion in 2028.

Project Health

  • We have successfully closed out ACCE Year 1. We are currently in the recruitment process to add Winter 2026 eligible students to cohort 1 with PCC and cohort 4 with MHCC and CCC.

Project Team

Sponsor: The Department of Education 
Project Leads: Andrea Garrity and Randi Harris
Program Director: Delaney Ybarra
ACCE Project Committee: Andrea Garrity, Brittany Montana, Delaney Ybarra, Emanuel Magana, Matthew Carlson, MHCC+CCC partners, Perla Pinedo, Randi Harris, Regina Arellano, Robert Findtner, Shoshana Zeisman-Pereyo
Collaborators: Mount Hood Community College and Clackamas Community College