Gateway to College program again earns national honors
For the seventh year, the Gateway to College program at Pueblo Community College received the Program Excellence Award for exceeding all benchmarks that are used to assess Gateway chapters throughout the United States.
Gateway to College is part of Achieving the Dream, a nonprofit organization that provides multi-faceted support for a network of nearly 300 community colleges. GTC enables students who have dropped out of high school or are significantly behind in earning credits to complete their high school diploma in a college-based program. They also earn college credits. PCC works with school districts throughout its service area to offer this alternative.
“I believe all students have the right to feel academic success and for some students, that means they need a new environment,” said Jeanelle Soto-Quintana, PCC’s director of pre-college programs and leader of GTC. “Gateway to College allows students access to college courses and opportunities that wouldn't otherwise be available to them. We are proud to be a part of a successful national program and college.”
The benchmarks set for GTC programs are first-term GPA, one- and two-year persistence, and three-year graduation rate. PCC’s program earned the following scores for the 2023-24 academic year:
First-term GPA: 3.25 (benchmark 2.50)
One-year persistence: 80% (benchmark 65.5%)
Two-year persistence: 89% (benchmark 61%)
Three-year graduation rate: 89% (benchmark 50%)
“It is important to note that the first-term GPA for (PCC’s) 2022-23 cohort was 3.25, up from a high school GPA at entry of just 1.67,” Stephanie Davolos, director of Gateway to College initiatives for Achieving the Dream, said in a press release. “This is a solid indicator of future persistence and college readiness.”
PCC’s Gateway program operates on all three campuses – Pueblo, Fremont and Southwest (Mancos). There were 129 students enrolled in 2023-24. Fifty-seven students earned a diploma in that academic year.
Soto-Quintana and Pre-College Program Specialists Michelle Grammon (Fremont), Alvina Heath (Southwest) and Jennifer Tinnell (Pueblo) attended Achieving the Dream’s K-College Institute in Denver with PCC President Chato Hazelbaker to receive the Program Excellence Award.
