Founded in 2012, the Success Center for Ohio Community Colleges (Success Center) is the hub connecting OACC members at the intersection of practice, research, and policy proven to improve student and workforce outcomes.
The Success Center is a statewide convener, ensuring coherence among reforms, facilitating collaboration across institutions, and building meaningful connections that accelerate student completion and career outcomes.
Goals
Funders & Partners
The work of the Success Center is made possible through generous support from several funders and partners. We gratefully acknowledge the following organizations for their support of the Success Center since its founding.
Achieving the Dream
The ADA Center
AACC Pathways Project
Ascendium Education Group
The Aspen Institute
Association of College and University Educators
Center for Community College Student Engagement
Coleridge Initiative
CCRC Community College Research Center
Complete College America
Completion by Design Ohio Cadre
ECMC
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
HCM Strategists
Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc.
Intel
JFF Jobs for the Future
The Joyce Foundation
Kresge Foundation
MDRC
Michigan Community College Association
National Center for Inquiry Improvement
Ohio Department of Higher Education
SOVA
Ohio Strong Start to Finish
Trellis
WestEd
Evolution of the Success Center
Establishing Our Vision and Goals
2012
- Center is established with support from Kresge [grant to SC]
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation support to OACC for statewide advocacy and research [grant to SC]
- Launch of Completion by Design [project launch]
2014
- 100% Performance Based Funding enacted [legislation]
- Campus Completion Plan legislation enacted [legislation]
Scaling Guided Pathways with SSLI
2016
- Ascendium support begins [grant to SC]
- First SSLI hosted [event launch]
- Start of data coaching and on-campus professional development [project launch]
- Launch of AACC Pathways [project launch]
- First Scale of Adoption Assessment [project launch]
- MDRC partnership on EASE [project launch]
- ODHE Innovation Grant on strategic scheduling [grant to SC]
- Ohio Guaranteed Transfer Pathways legislation [legislation]
2017
- First Holistic Student Supports Institute [event launch]
- Introduction of holistic student supports coaching [project launch]
Building Partnership and Supports
2018
- Ohio Strong Start to Finish [project launch]
- Joyce Foundation Grant on Dual Enrollment Pathways [new grant to SC]
2019
- Launch of Leadership Academy for Student Success [project launch]
- Introduction of faculty engagement couches and creation of the Ohio Pathways Coaching Program [project launch]
2020
- Extension of professional development to virtual webinars and workshops [project launch]
- First Data Summit [event launch]
2021
- Partnership with ACUE to offer Ohio faculty professional development courses [project launch]
- Launch of the Network Demonstration Project with JFF [project launch]
Leading, Innovating, and Elevating Ohio’s Community Colleges
2022
- Refresh with Guided Career Pathways [project launch]
- Sharing the Ohio Success Center model for replication at a national level [strategy]
2023
- Leadership Academy is replicated in MI, NY, and TX in partnership with NCII and Aspen [strategy]
- Leading the Ohio Semiconductor Collaboration Network [project launch]
2024
- Documenting and sharing our story and successes [strategy]
- Leading Workforce Outcomes Dashboard project in partnership with Achieving the Dream and ODHE [project launch]
Advancing our Shared Mission of Student Success
2025
- Partnering with the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) on OH-MI Pathways Together grant from Ascendium [grant to SC]
- Scaling Coalitions of Practice peer learning and action communities [project launch]
- Shortened Academic Terms Project with MCCA and Achieving the Dream [project launch]
- Success Center featured in More Essential Than Ever book [strategy]
- Another two states (AZ and WA) replicate the Leadership Academy program in partnership with NCII and Aspen [strategy]
2026
- Piloting Frontiers of Practice in partnership with MCCA [project launch]
- Student Basic Needs grant with MCCA from ECMC [grant to SC]
- Addition of employment metric and Technician-Aligned Associate Degree bonuses to funding formula [legislation]
Our Strategic Priorities
The following provide a shared direction for our work, ensuring our efforts are aligned, focused, and impactful.
Impact:
3x as Many Graduates
Since 2014, nearly 213,000 associate degrees and 1-year certificates have been awarded and the three-year graduation rate has nearly tripled from 9% to 25%.
Doubled Guided Pathways Implementation
Guided pathways implementation has doubled since 2018, with 94% of colleges scaling in progress or at scale.
Sources: Three-year Graduation & Success Rates for 2-Year Public Institutions, 2013 and 2019. https://highered.ohio.gov/data-reports/key-topic-areas/dr-graduation-retention/data-reports-graduation-retention and OACC Scale of Adoption Assessment, 2018 and 2022.