Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 52.06
Liaison Casey Meehan
Submission Date June 15, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Western Technical College
PA-8: Affordability and Access

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 4.00 Casey Meehan
Director of Sustainability and Resilience
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have policies and programs in place to make it accessible and affordable to low-income students?:
Yes

A brief description of any policies and programs to minimize the cost of attendance for low-income students:

For low income high school students, Western will waive the application fee based upon a letter of request from the area high school (based upon the reduced lunch income guidelines).


A brief description of any programs to equip the institution’s faculty and staff to better serve students from low-income backgrounds:

Western is an "Achieving The Dream" (ATD) school, a national network of schools focused on helping low-income and students of color succeed in school. For the past three years we have worked closely with ATD coaches to procure and utilize empirical data about student success and use our findings to increase the success of all students, but particularly those from under-resourced and marginalized backgrounds.


A brief description of any programs to prepare students from low-income backgrounds for higher education:

Western offers many programs for at-risk youth, minorities, dislocated workers, adult learners, GED, and the like. Many of these students are from low-income backgrounds.


A brief description of the institution's scholarships for low-income students:

Western has a National Science Foundation and Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholarship grants that provide scholarships to low-income students.


A brief description of any programs to guide parents of low-income students through the higher education experience:

Our Welcome Center operates under the assumption that family is included throughout this process. Western offers one-on-one assistance throughout the registration, advising, financial aid orientation sessions, etc. for students and their families.


A brief description of any targeted outreach to recruit students from low-income backgrounds:

None at this time.


A brief description of other admissions policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:

Project PROVEN is a grant-funded program that works with inmates at local county jails to help them earn their GED and/or prepare them for college-level work. This project offers a direct pipeline for these students to enroll at Western.

Western has recently re-envisioned our assessment and placement process in order to remove barriers for low-income students to access and succeed in rigorous college coursework.


A brief description of other financial aid policies or programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students:

Western offers many federal and state funded grant opportunities to incoming students.


A brief description of other policies and programs to make the institution accessible and affordable to low-income students not covered above:

None at this time.


Does the institution have policies and programs in place to support non-traditional students?:
Yes

A brief description of any scholarships provided specifically for part-time students:

Scholarships are available for part-time students; however, they are not specifically for part-time students. If the scholarship donor doesn’t specify a credit criteria then a part-time student is eligible for that scholarship. We do have some scholarships that are awarded to a student that is taking 6+ credits per term.


A brief description of any onsite child care facilities, partnerships with local facilities, and/or subsidies or financial support to help meet the child care needs of students:

We have emergency funds that students can apply for to obtain child care and funding.

We have retention coaches that help students locate and access resources like child care. We have recently increased the number of retention coaches we employ.

We also have a partnership with the YWCA for childcare.


A brief description of other policies and programs to support non-traditional students:

Western's Flexible Learning Division is an entire division devoted to supporting non-traditional students. Responsible for streamlining online and blended courses, the division also houses the Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) office. The CPL office works with non-traditional students to evaluate and grant college credit for their previous work experiences.

Western also has a Non-Traditional Occupations coordinator who supports students enrolled in programs that are traditionally dominated by the opposite gender.


Does the institution wish to pursue Part 2 of this credit (accessibility and affordability indicators)?:
No

Indicators that the institution is accessible and affordable to low-income students::
Percentage (0-100)
The percentage of entering students that are low-income ---
The graduation/success rate for low-income students ---
The percentage of student financial need met, on average ---
The percentage of students graduating with no interest-bearing student loan debt ---

The percentage of students that participate in or directly benefit from the institution’s policies and programs to support low-income and non-traditional students:
---

The website URL where information about the institution's affordability and access programs is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.