{"id":52419,"date":"2025-10-02T11:03:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T16:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=52419"},"modified":"2025-10-02T11:03:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T16:03:04","slug":"austin-community-college-district-earns-new-intentionally-thriving-institution-designation-for-impact-in-preparing-and-connecting-students-to-the-workforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/02\/austin-community-college-district-earns-new-intentionally-thriving-institution-designation-for-impact-in-preparing-and-connecting-students-to-the-workforce\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Community College District Earns New Intentionally Thriving Institution Designation for Impact in Preparing and Connecting Students to the Workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2025\/10\/AustinCommunityCollegeDistrict-ITI.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52421\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2025\/10\/AustinCommunityCollegeDistrict-ITI.png 1024w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2025\/10\/AustinCommunityCollegeDistrict-ITI-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2025\/10\/AustinCommunityCollegeDistrict-ITI-768x384.png 768w, https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/81\/2025\/10\/AustinCommunityCollegeDistrict-ITI-150x75.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>Austin Community College District (ACC) is celebrating steady growth in enrollment, persistence, and completion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to College data:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Enrollment headcount has climbed 10% over the past year<\/li>\n<li>Fall-to-fall persistence has climbed steadily over the past two years\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Completions have climbed more than 17% over the past year<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This week, the College was recognized by <em>Excelencia<\/em> in Education, a national leader in catalyzing institutional transformation for student success in higher education, and awarded the new <a href=\"http:\/\/edexcelencia.org\/seal\/seal-excelencia-certified-institutions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Intentionally Thriving Institution (ITI) designation of the Seal of <em>Excelencia<\/em><\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>ACC is one of the first institutions to earn the ITI designation, which extends impact beyond the educational pathway and recognizes positive impact in preparing students for, and connecting them to, the workforce.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis recognition proves what we\u2019ve always believed \u2014 when we put students at the center, they succeed,\u201d said ACC Chancellor Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart. \u201cAt ACC, we\u2019re committed to building a college where every student feels they belong, has access to the support they need, and can see a clear path to their future. We\u2019re not just helping students finish college. We\u2019re helping them build lives, support their families, and strengthen our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As one of the first colleges and universities to earn the Seal of <em>Excelencia<\/em>, then recertification, and now the ITI designation, ACC holds itself accountable for ongoing improvement, intentionality, and impact in increasing Latino, and all, student success.<\/p>\n<p>The College is working toward a 70% completion rate by the year 2030, through the <a href=\"https:\/\/infohub.austincc.edu\/theory-of-change\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">College\u2019s Theory of Change<\/a>. According to the most recent data from the College, completion rates are at 47%. In the last five years, overall completion rates have risen 7% across all demographics. ACC\u2019s Hispanic\/Latino population, one of the highest-enrolled demographics at the College, has seen a 10% increase in completion rates (about 4,980 students in Academic Year 2024).&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>About the Certification<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Seal is a rigorous, data-driven certification, not an award or ranking. Institutions earn the Seal by going beyond enrollment to intentionally serve Latino, and all, students, and by taking responsibility and accountability for providing access to excellence. The Seal framework aligns data, practice, and leadership to move institutions beyond isolated programs toward systemic change and investment that provides institutional value to students, their families, and their communities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeal of<em> Excelencia <\/em>certified institutions are investing in transformation, ensuring access to excellence, and becoming places where Latino, and all, students thrive,\u201d said Deborah Santiago, co-founder and CEO of <em>Excelencia <\/em>in Education. \u201cThese institutions have made demonstrable efforts to ensure students\u2019 return on investment in a degree while cultivating talent that fuels our country\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Seal of <em>Excelencia<\/em> certified institutions produce outsized impact on student outcomes \u2014&nbsp; representing less than 1% of all colleges and universities in the U.S., yet enrolling 16% and graduating 18% of Latino students nationwide, as well as enrolling 7% and graduating 8% of all students. ACC earned the Seal of <em>Excelencia <\/em>for the first time in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Excelencia<\/em> is proud to continue to catalyze and support colleges and universities that earn the Seal of <em>Excelencia<\/em> for their impact and intentional efforts to deliver on the promise of higher education for all students. Through our collaboration, we build talent for our country\u2019s workforce and civic leadership,\u201d said Sarita Brown, co-founder and president of <em>Excelencia<\/em> in Education.<\/p>\n<p>Explore more about ACC at <a href=\"http:\/\/austincc.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">austincc.edu<\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Austin Community College District (ACC) is celebrating steady growth in enrollment, persistence, and completion.&nbsp; According to College data: This week, the College was recognized by Excelencia in Education, a national leader in catalyzing institutional transformation &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/02\/austin-community-college-district-earns-new-intentionally-thriving-institution-designation-for-impact-in-preparing-and-connecting-students-to-the-workforce\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3930,"featured_media":52420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[708,4275,2102],"class_list":["post-52419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-announcements","tag-completion-rates","tag-intentionally-thriving-institution","tag-seal-of-excelencia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3930"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}