Arizona Attainment Alliance announces Universal Admissions Program
Dear Lumberjacks,
Last week, members of the Arizona Attainment Alliance (A++) convened in Phoenix to pursue the bold and innovative work of collaborating across distinct institutions to pursue the timely and essential shared goal of dramatically increasing Arizona’s educational attainment rate. Led by NAU, A++ is comprised of all ten of the state’s community college districts, as well as the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), creating a 320,000-plus student ecosystem.
Today, I am pleased to share the first initiative launched through the Alliance: the Universal Admissions Program. With Universal Admissions, any student who does not immediately meet the requirements to be admitted to NAU will be seamlessly connected to a local community college district, with an assurance that they will be able to transfer into NAU without an additional application when they are ready. A pilot of this program launched last fall between NAU and Coconino Community College has already generated interest from nearly 700 students.
I encourage you to read the full news release about the launch of this innovative program, along with other highlights from this important convening.
In the months ahead, I look forward to sharing updates with our NAU community on developments in the following areas and working together to deliver on our vision for the Arizona Attainment Alliance:
- Cross-institutional approaches to enrollment and degree completions that maximize access and attainment.
- Strategies to strengthen the K-12 to higher education to career journey, including common approaches to academic and career advisement.
- Development of seamless, career-driven academic pathways across all A++ institutions.
- Design specifications for shared technologies and data services that facilitate student success and postgraduate outcomes.
My thanks to our community college partners, the ACA, and the talented and dedicated team at NAU, led by our Vice President for Economic Mobility and Social Impact Jonathan Gagliardi, for this milestone in our work.
I look forward to all that the Arizona Attainment Alliance will contribute to the prosperity and vitality of Arizona in the years ahead.
In partnership,
José Luis Cruz Rivera
President