Tulsa Community College Receives $3.7 Million Grant Aimed At Helping First-Year Students

Tulsa Community College plans to use a $3.7 million grant to assist students in completing their degree path while studying the effectiveness of their efforts.

The U.S. Department of Education awarded the Postsecondary Student Success grant specifically to help underserved students. TCC currently enrolls 20,000 students annually. 

The grant money will pay for increased advising efforts to steer students through the first year when many of them drop out.

"We know that's when students begin to struggle because that's when they lose track of goals, and bills become due, and they begin to think about the other things in their lives, and with this grant, we hope to work with them to show them someone here cares, who can help them," said TCC Dean of Libraries Paula Settoon. 

TCC will use the money to hire additional staff and expects to target 500 students over four years. The program will begin this fall, but Settoon said it would take until the fall semester of 2025 to be fully operational.

TCC faculty in upper divisions will meet with freshmen to explain career paths and answer questions about what’s ahead. Students in social sciences will be the primary target.

"Maybe a dream, what's the dream like? Maybe not even what degree do you want, but what job do you want, what problem do you want to solve in the world," said Chief Academic Officer Dr. Angela Sivadon. 

The extra attention will be available at all of the TCC campuses, for about 125 students each year. 

In addition to advising the help will extend to practical tools like laptops and hotspots to ensure students at risk of stopping their education have the tools they need to continue.