GREENFIELD — Greenfield Community College has received $56,938 from the state to help adults start on their academic journey.
The state Department of Higher Education gave the local community college the money to create a new Bridges to Success summer program that will allow GCC to support adult students looking to advance their careers or pursue new ones.
The free summer program will combine career exploration and college success skills workshops with credit courses so that adult students will be better prepared to transition into a college degree or certificate program in the fall.
According to college officials, the program is designed to help nontraditional students, including those currently receiving basic education services or learning English as a second language.
GCC is partnering with the Center for New Americans, the International Language Institute, the Literacy Project, the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and North Quabbin Regions, the Orange and Greenfield probation departments and MassHire to focus efforts on recruiting adult learners.
According to the Department of Higher Education, 17 percent of all Massachusetts residents age 25 to 65 have some college credit, but no degree, and most of those people are not currently enrolled in college.
According to the state, many adults aspire to jobs that require a college degree or certificate but are not ready for college-level work. Once enrolled, adult students earn credit at lower rates than younger students, most likely due to competing family and job-related pressures.
Bridges to Success will address those issues and more, according to Dean of Humanities Leo Hwang, helping adult students overcome obstacles through intense advising and customized resources.
“The Bridges to Success program is an exciting way for us to build stronger connections with our partner organizations, who are all working to help adult learners in our region,” Hwang said. “By all rowing in the same direction, we can create services that are customized to support adult learners’ needs, and we can help make the transition to college smoother and less intimidating.”
For more information, visit: bit.ly/2J4NTl5 or contact Hwang at 413-775-1221.