Grantee Video Spotlight: The Campaign for College Opportunity
November 26, 2018
Year of Grant: 2016
Amount Funded: $150,000
By 2030, the state of California will need 1.65 million more adults with college credentials to meet changing workforce needs. The state is not on track to get there.
The Campaign for College Opportunity (CCO) brings a diverse group of leaders together to focus on two main issues - remedial education reform and simplifying pathways for community college students to transfer to four-year schools. Studies show that these two issues are key barriers facing students.
In 2016, ECMC Foundation granted the CCO $150,000 to support their work. 75% of community college students in California are placed into remedial education courses, but only 1 in 5 students placed in these courses will complete their desired degrees, certificates or successfully transfer in six years. If students do make it to the transfer pathway, they can find the prohibitively expensive and difficult to navigate.
CCO educates elected officials, candidates running for office, administrators, business leaders and activists on these issues through widely circulated research reports and in-person forums and town halls. Thanks in part to the CCO’s advocacy, California is making progress. Over the past two years, the team has led the way for tens of millions of dollars in increased state budgets and successful legislation focused on removing remedial education barriers and simplifying transfer pathways for students across California.
As California colleges implement these new changes the CCO continues to monitor elected officials and college leaders to ensure successful implementation of the reforms.
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