CFK reports from: American Youth Policy Forum
Event: Presentation on the Gateway to College program at Portland Community College
Organized by: American Youth Policy Forum
Where/When: Washington, D.C., June 8, 2005

Report by Sunny Xiang

Portland Community College wants high school dropouts to continue their education—their higher education, that is.

Linda Huddle, Director of Alternative Programs for PCC, gave a presentation on Gateway to College, a program that she helped start in 2000 to help at-risk youths get a college degree.

The dual-enrollment program, one of 12 in a larger national movement called the Early College High School Initiative, targets high school dropouts between the ages of 16 and 20. PCC has an agreement with five area school districts that allows students to work towards a high school diploma and an associate's degree at the same time. The school districts help fund the program through a per-student fee (paid by the students in the program? All students in the district?).

Last year, GTC had 375 students enrolled in four PCC campuses. PCC's success has prompted the school to replicate its program at community colleges in California, Georgia, Texas, and other states. By 2008, PCC is slated to have 17 replication sites.

The purpose of GTC is to increase the accessibility of higher education for high school dropouts and, in doing so, to dispel myths about youths that society has written off as lost causes. The average GTC student is 17.8 years old, earned a high school GPA of 1.7, and has the credits of a high school freshman.

"It's important for people to rethink how they view dropouts," said Huddle. She added that too many people believe dropouts lack academic ability and discount outside factors such as family problems, financial difficulties and homelessness.

GTC, she said, considers each student's individual story and understands that not everyone can fit into the "drama" of high school.

The program requires students to physically and mentally integrate themselves into the college environment. Upon first entering GTC, they spend one term in small learning communities called cohorts, developing fundamental skills to bridge the gap between high school and college. They then enroll in credit level courses with PCC's regular students.

GTC helps build the students' sense of self reliance and self efficacy, Huddle said. She spoke about a female student who had started her own Native American organization at PCC. Another student became a pilot for the government at age 20.

But not all the students have such happy endings to their stories. Over four years, 42 percent of GTC students left without college credentials and did not continue their education. Huddle, however, said that those were not bad results given the context: the students that GTC targets would not have even begun, much less finished, college without the program.

Huddle said that GTC is a "continuous improvement model" with students whose stories are still being written. She said that GTC plans on inviting back young adults who dropped the program and on learning from the experiences of its replication sites.

For more information about GTC, visit its website at Gateway to College.