Counseling

AASA, Hobsons Team To Improve Access to Community Colleges

• By Leila Meyer
• 06/15/15

The School Superintendents Association (AASA) and Hobsons, a provider of student advising and admissions systems, have teamed up on an initiative that aims to help school districts and community colleges increase the number of students attending and graduating from community college.

According to Hobsons, community colleges are having trouble retaining students because freshmen often need to complete non-credit remedial courses before moving on to credit courses or they don't have access to advising or degree planning services.

In an attempt to address these issues, AASA and Hobsons plan to host a series of working groups that bring together leaders from high schools, school districts and community colleges. The working groups will discuss the issues of student access, preparedness, persistence and graduation, and according to Hobsons, the work "will also be informed by Hobsons' student advising via the Naviance and Starfish platforms." AASA and Hobsons will use the information from the working groups to develop a series of best practices and guides that school districts and community colleges can use to help students make a successful transition from high school to college and on to graduation.

"It's all about targeting the individual needs of every student in every school," said Daniel A. Domenech, executive director of AASA, in a prepared statement. "School districts across the country need to collaborate with community colleges to help students who may not have the financial resources available to attend the traditional four-year university, or may not want a four year degree after graduating high school."

AASA and Hobsons announced the partnership at a Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) America Meeting and have committed to the project through a joint CGI America Commitment to Action.