Front Range Community College's Larimer Campus launched "College Connection" this month. College Connection is a new program which helps prepare GED graduates to go on to college at FRCC. Margie Wagner, coordinator of adult literacy explains:

Students will participate in English, mathematics, reading, career exploration, and study skills classes to prepare them for successful entry into FRCC. Our goal is to provide GED graduates with a low-cost way to get the education, skills, and experiences that will help them succeed in higher education. The students buy their books, and the rest is free.

The weekday Summer 2009 program began June 1 and is slated to conclude July 24. The program is open to GED graduates age 18-24. The Summer 2009 cohort is preparing to attend FRCC in the Fall.

FRCC transition-to-college "Navigator" Jennifer Sheaman tells Connections about the kinds of students College Connection helps:

Challenging life circumstances tend to be the rule, not the exception, with most GED students and ours are no different. We have 10 students participating in College Connection; they are a diverse group in terms of age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and career goals, yet they have at least one thing in common – they value education. Most of these students have met challenges that most of us will never experience in our lives including learning English as a second language, surviving abuse, coping with physical and learning disabilities, undergoing family difficulties, dealing with poverty and homelessness, overcoming substance abuse, and enduring incarceration. Despite, or perhaps because of their triumph over these circumstances, our students are motivated to learn, optimistic about their futures, and willing to do what it takes to make a better life for themselves.

FRCC's College Connection program is an endeavor of the Colorado Success UNlimited (SUN) initiative - a collaboration between the Colorado Community College System Foundation and the Colorado Department of Education-Office of Adult Education and Family Literacy. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, the Colorado SUN national demonstration project is a dropout recovery initiative designed to move out-of-school youth and adult learners forward, reduce remedial training, and build confident, successful students who are ready for college and careers. SUN transition strategies include:

Offering intensive college prep coursework, career planning, and personal and logistical support to successfully transition academically under-prepared GED completers, high school graduates, and adult learners into post-secondary education

Providing on-going transition support, case management, and career exploration assistance

Addressing the academic alignment gap between GED and college-level coursework

Developing capacity for implementation of transition strategies

Measuring student success and documenting instruction and management practices

Building statewide awareness and support

Seven community college campuses with adult secondary education programs are participating in the initiative. Besides FRCC, they include: Community College of Denver, Lamar Community College, Morgan Community College, Northeastern Junior College, Pueblo Community College's Southwest Colorado Community College division in Durango and Red Rocks Community College.

For more information on the Colorado SUN Initiative go to http://www.cccs.edu/Foundation/SUN.html.