Dr. Joe May, DCCCD chancellor
Contact: Ann Hatch
214-378-1819;
ahatch@dcccd.edu
For immediate release — Dec. 4, 2014
(WASHINGTON) — Today, the Dallas County Community College District and Richland College join President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden — along with Dr. Joe May, DCCCD’s chancellor; Dr. Kay Eggleston, president of Richland College; and hundreds of other college presidents and higher education leaders at the White House to announce new actions that will help more students prepare for and graduate from college.
The White House College Opportunity Day of Action helps support the president’s commitment to partner with colleges and universities, business leaders and nonprofits to support students across the country to help the nation reach its goal of leading the world in college attainment.
DCCCD and Richland each submitted separate pledges of commitment, but both focus on STEM careers, preparation and college completion for students, beginning in middle school and high school, then continuing throughout college and into the workforce.
May said, “We are excited to join the White House — and many other colleges and universities across the country — as we commit to help all students become college ready, complete their college credentials and launch new careers, especially in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Dallas County Community College District and the seven colleges in our system will launch and build on our upcoming STEM Careers Awareness campaign, which the district will launch in 2015, in partnership with the Dallas Independent School District. Current Dallas ISD middle school and high school students will be able to use this new interactive, online platform to explore STEM education pathways — both credit and certificate — that lead to jobs in STEM fields.”
He added, “The system also will connect participating students with enrollment information about summer bridge programs and STEM-related scholarship opportunities within DCCCD. During the next 18 months, this campaign will expand to include a minimum of seven additional independent school districts across Dallas County, which collectively serve more than 200,000 middle- and high-school students each year. By 2020, through its STEM Institute, the district also expects to recruit an additional 1,200 students annually with a graduation rate of 50% or more.”
Dr. Kay Eggleston, Richland College president
Eggleston said, “Richland College is well-positioned to be a part of such an ambitious initiative to assist greater numbers of students in their educational pursuits toward degree completion and well-paying jobs.”
Today’s participants were 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 STEM fields of science.
President Obama is announcing new steps that his administration will take to help support these actions, including $10 million in funding 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 includes a progress report on the commitments made during the first day of action on Jan. 14, 2014.
Expanding opportunity for more students to enroll and succeed in college, especially low-income and underrepresented students, is vital so that the U.S. can build a strong economy and a strong middle class. Today, only 9% of individuals born in the lowest family income quartile earn a bachelor’s degree by age 25, compared to 54% in the top quartile. In an effort to expand college access, the Obama administration has increased Pell Grants 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% of income; and laid out an ambitious agenda to reduce college costs and promote innovation and competition.
On Wednesday, attendees were invited to a special event hosted by Dr. Jill Biden, who is a faculty member at Northern Virginia Community College. On Thursday, during the Day of Action, participants are listening to a number of speakers and attending sessions throughout the day to learn more about how others are helping students with college readiness, building partnerships and STEM careers, among many other topics.
For more information, visit whitehouse.gov/college-opportunity or contact Ann Hatch in the DCCCD office of public and governmental affairs by phone at (214) 378-1819 or by email at
ahatch@dcccd.edu.
Links to commitment statements from both DCCCD and Richland College are provided below.
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DCCCD Commitment Profile (PDF - 16KB)
Richland College Commitment Profile (PDF - 16KB)