ACC To Engage Community on Boosting College Participation Among Minority Texans

Austin, TX – February 16, 2006 – Each spring in Central Texas, freshly minted high school graduates ask themselves, “What now?” Many will begin college in the fall, as a matter of course and thanks to careful planning begun years ago. Unfortunately, an increasing number will not consider higher education an option, an alarming trend Austin Community College (ACC) and area leaders are eager to reverse.

“Closing the Gaps: Partnering for Community Impact” is a community forum where issues related to the region’s Closing the Gaps goals will be discussed. The event is sponsored by the ACC Board of Trustees and will be held 6-7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 27 at the ACC Highland Business Center, 5930 Middle Fiskville Road in Austin.

“Many ACC departments and programs have long and productive partnerships with the broader community to advance educational goals and address community-identified needs,” said Dr. Barbara Mink, chair of the ACC Board of Trustees. “The forum will help centralize efforts to increase student engagement and make information more accessible to community partners.”

In 1999, the state of Texas documented a decline in the percentage of Texans participating in higher education. In 2000, it instituted the Closing the Gaps by 2015 initiative to increase college participation rates by 630,000 students, particularly among African-American and Hispanic populations.

According to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 60 percent of those 630,000 students will enter higher education through a community or technical college. Regionally, ACC is considered the primary institution to meet Central Texas’ Closing the Gaps enrollment goals. The college currently serves as the gateway to higher education for more than 50 percent of all high school graduates in the region.

For more information on Closing the Gaps, visit .

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