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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation chose Gateway to College as an exemplary educational model helping our most vulnerable youth, whom teachers, administrators, and parents have often written off as failures, to gain solid footing on a path to real academic success.
In order to promote the Gateway to College model, the Foundation and its funding partners granted Portland Community College $13 million over eight years to replicate the program. This grant is part of a $114 million initiative, the Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI) to expand options for high school students being left behind in the traditional system by opening 170 early college high schools in more than 25 states by 2008.
By fall of 2008, the Gateway to College National Network will have replicated the Gateway to College program at 20 sites across the country. Riverside City College in Riverside, California and Montgomery College in Montgomery County, Maryland began serving students in the fall of 2004. Clackamas Community College in Oregon City, Oregon; Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas; and Georgia Perimeter College in Decatur, Georgia began serving students in the fall of 2005. College of The Albemarle in Elizabeth City, North Carolina; Community College of Philadelphia in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Mt. Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Massachusetts; and Tri-County Technical College in Pendleton, South Carolina started serving students in the fall of 2006. Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Massachusetts; Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York, and San Antonio College in San Antonio, Texas began serving students in the fall of 2007. Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado; Holyoke Community College in Holyoke, Massachusetts; Laney College in Oakland, California; St. Louis Community College in St. Louis, Missouri; and Savannah Technical College in Savannah, Georgia will begin serving students in the fall of 2008. The Gateway to College National Network is grateful to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Ford Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for their support.
The Gateway to College replication process
Between October 2007 and August 2008, Gateway to College National Network will be engaged in a discovery process to determine colleges that are good candidates for replication in round six, where 3 colleges will be selected to receive planning grants and technical assistance. This process involves site visits (both to Portland and at potential replication sites), a letter of interest, and a competitive review of applications for planning funds. The letter of interest and application for planning funds are received by invitation only. Colleges selected during round six will be notified in the fall of 2008, and begin an intensive period of training and planning to serve students in Gateway to College in the fall of 2009.
Through its grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the national network team will provide a total of $300,000 or $350,000 over three years to each replication site for planning and start-up. This amount is based on the college's ability to enroll 300 or 350 students in Gateway to College by the end of the third year of the grant. Selected colleges must provide for student tuition and books through arrangements with their local K - 12 education partners. In addition to the planning funds, the Gateway to College National Network support team will provide:
- Replication guidebooks containing curriculum course outlines and syllabi for the Gateway to College Foundation term
- Tools and training materials for outreach, student intake and selection, student retention and support services, advising tools, and protocols and policies related to student retention and support
- Tailored technical assistance
- Professional development tools
Replication requirements
Gateway to College National Network has created qualifications and readiness indicators for potential partners interested in Gateway to College replication.
In general, Gateway to College funded sites are required to:
- Have the ability to align curriculum to allow students to meet the requirements for both high school completion, earn college credits, and achieve college success
- Serve the dropout population
- Provide all classes in the college setting
- Provide an initial learning environment blending rigorous academics with personal support
- Follow the Essential Elements of the model. Click here.
The Gateway to College model requires four areas of institutional strength in order to thrive. Our letter of interest asks colleges pursuing replication to be able to demonstrate:
- Flexible systems that allow students to earn a high school diploma (either through the college or in cooperation with a K - 12 partner) and provide access to public K - 12 education funds for high school completion
- Strong partnerships between the college and the local school district(s) involved in the replication
- The desire to embrace the Gateway to College academic approach and student support strategies at every level throughout the college
- Compatibility of the Gateway to College model with the mission and vision of the college, in order to support the required commitment to working with dropout youth
For more information on the Gateway to College national replication project and the discovery process for interested colleges, please call Nick Mathern of the Gateway to College National Network at 503-788-6228 or email nmathern@gatewaytocollege.org.
Gateway to College National Network
Portland Community College, Southeast Center
Mt. Scott Hall, Room 106
2305 SE 82nd Ave.,
Portland, OR 97216
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