Latest news with #AustinCommunityCollege
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Austin Community College free tuition program takes center stage at US Senate. Here's why.
At the invitation of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Austin Community College Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart testified at a congressional hearing Wednesday about ACC's innovative free tuition program for in-district high school graduates. In his testimony, Lowery-Hart told members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that community colleges in general have taken on affordability issues "with courage" — and that their voices are often ignored in higher education policy. "We're the entity in the sector of higher education where innovation goes to breathe and where I think higher education is actually being reimagined," Lowery-Hart said. "Community colleges are the sector that have taken on affordability with courage." Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont and former Democratic presidential candidate, specifically invited Lowery-Hart to testify after learning about the success of the program for recent high school graduates. His recently introduced bill, the College for All Act of 2025, would eliminate public tuition and fees for students in certain income brackets. Lowery-Hart said the free tuition program has boosted enrollment by 40% at the college, as well as increased retention and success rates. Sander's bill would be "transformative" for other institutions to have similar success, he said. Lowery-Hart was the only representative from Texas and from a community college on the panel, which also included presidents from a Christian-centered college and a historically Black college and university, a research fellow and a representative from a student borrower protection center. His testimony came as Congress considers a reconciliation bill that would cut Pell Grants for part-time students by increasing the amount of credit hours a student must take to qualify for the aid. For ACC, that would mean 5,000 part-time students could lose Pell access and likely their ability to finish workforce programs, Lowery-Hart said. "Our moral clarity is loving our students to success because this work is personal," Lowery-Hart told senators. "The decisions that you do make aren't just political, they change the trajectory of lives, neighborhoods and communities." Based on ACC's data, Lowery-Hart shared that the average student is 27-year-old "Ashley," a part-time student with two jobs and a young child, who is just one emergency away from dropping out. ACC data shows 40% of its students are food insecure, and 55% are housing insecure. "She is continually in a state of stress because she is one flat tire away or one sick childcare worker away from having to drop out of school, which then could consign her to a life of poverty," Lowery-Hart said. But support at "key moments," such as ACC's free tuition program or emergency fund, can change her family's economic trajectory for generations. Lowery-Hart said the ACC free tuition program is notable among other programs for its breadth and for covering the total cost of admission, allowing other scholarships to go toward meeting students' basic needs. Although ACC has not raised tuition in 12 years, the top reason students still don't attend is affordability, not lack of interest, Lowery-Hart said. He implored senators to remember Ashley as they make decisions affecting higher education. Sean Hassan, chair of ACC's board of directors, said it was "thrilling" to represent community colleges and share ACC's story on Capitol Hill. He said the ACC team also met with Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn's staff while in Washington to discuss the importance of Pell grants and the continued momentum of legislation that would benefit ACC, such as potential changes to the CHIPS and Science Act on semiconductor development. Hassan said ACC's perspective is particularly valuable because of the diversity of students and service area: Its coverage area is larger than the state of Connecticut, and the college annually serves 70,000 students from high school students taking dual credit courses to workforce training for returning adult learners. He said the bipartisanship of the committee hearing made him optimistic about higher education, and he hopes ACC's story inspires others to enact change. 'I am very hopeful, and not just because of the work that we're doing in Central Texas, but potentially because we can serve as a model for others,' Hassan said. 'You can't ever get complacent. We have to keep showing up and making sure we are telling our story, the story of Ashley.' This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: ACC chancellor advocates for free tuition, Pell grants at US Senate
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Austin Community College free tuition program takes center stage at US Senate. Here's why.
At the invitation of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Austin Community College Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart testified at a congressional hearing Wednesday about ACC's innovative free tuition program for in-district high school graduates. In his testimony, Lowery-Hart told members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions that community colleges in general have taken on affordability issues "with courage" — and that their voices are often ignored in higher education policy. "We're the entity in the sector of higher education where innovation goes to breathe and where I think higher education is actually being reimagined," Lowery-Hart said. "Community colleges are the sector that have taken on affordability with courage." Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont and former Democratic presidential candidate, specifically invited Lowery-Hart to testify after learning about the success of the program for recent high school graduates. His recently introduced bill, the College for All Act of 2025, would eliminate public tuition and fees for students in certain income brackets. Lowery-Hart said the free tuition program has boosted enrollment by 40% at the college, as well as increased retention and success rates. Sander's bill would be "transformative" for other institutions to have similar success, he said. Lowery-Hart was the only representative from Texas and from a community college on the panel, which also included presidents from a Christian-centered college and a historically Black college and university, a research fellow and a representative from a student borrower protection center. His testimony came as Congress considers a reconciliation bill that would cut Pell Grants for part-time students by increasing the amount of credit hours a student must take to qualify for the aid. For ACC, that would mean 5,000 part-time students could lose Pell access and likely their ability to finish workforce programs, Lowery-Hart said. "Our moral clarity is loving our students to success because this work is personal," Lowery-Hart told senators. "The decisions that you do make aren't just political, they change the trajectory of lives, neighborhoods and communities." Based on ACC's data, Lowery-Hart shared that the average student is 27-year-old "Ashley," a part-time student with two jobs and a young child, who is just one emergency away from dropping out. ACC data shows 40% of its students are food insecure, and 55% are housing insecure. "She is continually in a state of stress because she is one flat tire away or one sick childcare worker away from having to drop out of school, which then could consign her to a life of poverty," Lowery-Hart said. But support at "key moments," such as ACC's free tuition program or emergency fund, can change her family's economic trajectory for generations. Lowery-Hart said the ACC free tuition program is notable among other programs for its breadth and for covering the total cost of admission, allowing other scholarships to go toward meeting students' basic needs. Although ACC has not raised tuition in 12 years, the top reason students still don't attend is affordability, not lack of interest, Lowery-Hart said. He implored senators to remember Ashley as they make decisions affecting higher education. Sean Hassan, chair of ACC's board of directors, said it was "thrilling" to represent community colleges and share ACC's story on Capitol Hill. He said the ACC team also met with Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, and Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn's staff while in Washington to discuss the importance of Pell grants and the continued momentum of legislation that would benefit ACC, such as potential changes to the CHIPS and Science Act on semiconductor development. Hassan said ACC's perspective is particularly valuable because of the diversity of students and service area: Its coverage area is larger than the state of Connecticut, and the college annually serves 70,000 students from high school students taking dual credit courses to workforce training for returning adult learners. He said the bipartisanship of the committee hearing made him optimistic about higher education, and he hopes ACC's story inspires others to enact change. 'I am very hopeful, and not just because of the work that we're doing in Central Texas, but potentially because we can serve as a model for others,' Hassan said. 'You can't ever get complacent. We have to keep showing up and making sure we are telling our story, the story of Ashley.' This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: ACC chancellor advocates for free tuition, Pell grants at US Senate
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Why Pease Park visitors must now pay to park
AUSTIN (KXAN) — People enjoying Pease Park will now have to pay to park on weekends, according to the city of Austin. The change comes as the city installs paid parking spaces to 'improve safety and create more availability for people visiting the high-demand area.' According to the city, the new paid parking areas are on Parkway between Enfield Road and Kingsbury Street. 'The new regulations are now in effect,' the city said. 'Parking enforcement officers will write warnings for a two-week period while handing out information about the changes.' The new regulations are in place from 5 a.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday, and beginning May 1, enforcement officers will start citing vehicles accordingly. From Friday through Sunday, 5 a.m. – 10 p.m., parking requires mobile payment through the Park ATX app, and parking Friday through Monday, 10 p.m. – 5 a.m., for the majority of Parkway will be permit-only. Free parking options Austin Recreation Center on Shoal Creek Boulevard Austin Community College garage at 824 W. 12th St., (9 a.m. – 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday) Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
How a new Infrastructure Academy could help meet Austin workforce gaps, deliver high wages
Since 2022, Mayor Kirk Watson has been wrestling with a challenge. The good challenge, as he calls it, of a booming city: how to tackle affordability and infrastructure. As more people moved to Austin, he wondered, how can he make it so more families keep more money in their pockets? As the growing city's new infrastructure projects ballooned — spanning to $25 billion in projects with the renovation of the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Interstate 35 expansion and Project Connect — a parallel goal emerged: to help Austinites "make a living making Austin." "I didn't want us just counting the number of new W2s we created. I wanted us to have a real focus on how we get those positions for people that are already here," Watson said in an interview with the American-Statesman. "We're going to be focused on the person." In a SXSW panel March 6, Watson, Austin Community College Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart and the Texas Workforce boasted their innovative solution to filling Austin's infrastructure demands and jobs: an Infrastructure Academy. They believe it to be the first of its kind because of its collaborative elements. The academy will be both a physical place and a system that will allow one entry point into the thousands of Austin infrastructure careers and support to successfully graduate any Austinite through the program. Not only will it help connect people to jobs through education, but it will connect them to "family-sustaining" wages, Watson said. On Wednesday, the academy will officially "launch" with a career fair in which anyone in Austin can explore careers and paths to get there. The project is "near and dear" to Watson, he said at SXSW. Workforce Solutions Capital Area — Austin and Travis County's data-driven workforce development arm that provides free specialized support to job-seeking Austinites — found that infrastructure and mobility was the second-largest economic sector in the city, expected to add 10,000 new jobs annually, 4,000 of which will go unfilled without intervention. In meeting with stakeholders — including Workforce Solutions, Austin Community College and Travis County Judge Andy Brown — the idea for a "navigation system" into that ripe economic sector was formed. "In modern times, we've never had this much money going into infrastructure. But at the same time, how do we make sure Austin and people in Austin can get to be a part of that?" Watson asked at SXSW. The Infrastructure Academy will consolidate existing resources to simplify applications, meet growing job needs; engage employers and potential workers; and add supports to ensure everyone can access career pipelines. With Austin Community College as its education arm, Workforce Solution as the support and special services, the city as the convener and employers as the on-hands opportunity and destination, the academy streamlines entrance into the industry with the goal of expanding who in the city can access living wages and careers. "This is not just a simple job fair-type of deal. This is a true academy in the sense that it is more of an ecosystem, a network where we're going to meet the individuals where they are and knock down barriers," Watson said. "If one of the barriers for someone being able to get the training, (if what) they need is child care, we're going to help them with child care. If one of the barriers that they have is transportation, we're going to help them with transportation." The City Council authorized $5 million in its last budget cycle to initially fund the project, and Asset Funders Network provided the initial money for the study, Watson said. The $5 million pulls from water and electricity utility services that rely on the future of this workforce, Watson said, and private partners will be essential to its continuation. The academy will have a physical space at ACC's new Southeast Travis County campus, funded by the successful 2022 ACC bond proposition to meet the community's education needs, but it will kick off at the college's Riverside campus until the new facility is completed. Phase 1 of the new campus is set to open in fall 2027, followed by a total opening the next year, the website states. Twenty-four programs currently offered by ACC are in line with the city's infrastructure job demands, but the college is collaborating with pre-apprenticeship unions to create an integrated curriculum directly aligned with employer demands, while also working with Workforce Solutions to create supports such as child care, career counseling and transportation help to make education attainable for everyone, Lowery-Hart said in an interview. The programs "exist in isolation of each other and exist in isolation of the supports from Workforce Solutions, the apprenticeship experiences from the unions," Lowery-Hart told the Statesman. "That's the power of the Infrastructure Academy both as an idea and a physical space — if there's not a front door to any of them, and what we're trying to create is a seamless front door where the student can come in and access all of them, with simple application, career counseling and advocacy and a pathway with resources." By fall 2026, Lowery-Heart hopes the academy will be a "fully integrated, realized vision" with the collaborative curriculum and support programs in place. The care and collaboration makes the academy's approach rare, Lowery-Hart said, and will serve as a model for other cities in meeting their community and workforce needs. "I do believe that all of these elements exist in communities across the country, the difference here is that we're going to do them together," Lowery-Hart said. Though Austin has a relatively low unemployment rate, women make up only 14% of the infrastructure and mobility workforce locally, said Amber Warne, senior director of business engagement for Workforce Solutions. To meet the 4,000 jobs, Workforce Solutions is working to reach out to populations that have low representation, and offer them supports to achieving a career. "We're really working at 'How do we engage non-traditional populations for mobility and infrastructure in a new way, in addition to women, and looking at how do we outreach and let them know about the career options?'" Warne said, adding that the academy will also reach out to K-12 students to educate them about opportunities after graduation. The jobs span from skilled trades, general construction, project management and maintenance, Warne said. "With those categories, there's a number of different jobs that fall into that, ranging from welding, electrician, plumbers, mechanics, bus drivers, and the list goes on," she said. "Part of what this Infrastructure Academy is going to do is create a marketplace that really shows all of that opportunity in the different jobs and the pathways that they provide." The Wednesday program launch will include prospective participants and 22 local employers. Anyone can register to attend. Watson invites anyone interested to come, and he hopes the academy will have an effect in Austin and beyond. "People now across the country are looking at that as well, how we're doing this," Watson said. "My hope is that this becomes one of those uniquely Austin ways of focusing on its people, so that Austin is a more complete city. And by that, I mean it is a city where everyone sees an opportunity to thrive and live." This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin's new Infrastructure Academy to bring clear pathways to careers
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Austin Community College, Concordia University announce student transfer program
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Community College and Concordia University are launching a new transfer program, allowing ACC students to easily transfer to a bachelor's degree at Concordia. The 'Rise at ACC, Shine at CTX' program offers students a 'clear transfer pathway,' along with financial assistance and personalized academic support. 'This partnership represents exactly what we want for our students—clear, accessible pathways to their future,' ACC Chancellor Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart said. 'Too often, transfer students face unnecessary hurdles that cost them time, money, and momentum. 'Rise at ACC, Shine at CTX' breaks down those barriers, creating a seamless transition that supports students every step of the way. This kind of collaboration doesn't just change academic journeys—it transforms lives.' Austin Community College expands, puts emphasis on training skilled workers Students will be able to transfer into several Concordia degree programs with preestablished pathways: Bachelor of Applied Arts & Sciences Bachelor of Arts in communication Bachelor of Arts in psychology Bachelor of Arts in sociology Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting Bachelor of Business Administration in marketing Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts in computer science ACC students of any major can transfer up to 90 credits toward a four-year degree at Concordia, even if their program is not one of the preestablished pathways. The initiative will expand with new pathways in the future. 'Our goal is to provide students with the resources and support they need to succeed, from the very moment they begin their academic journey at ACC,' Dr. Kristi Kirk, president and CEO of Concordia University Texas said. 'We are committed to making this process as seamless and accessible as possible.' The transfer program is already available for eligible students. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
