As a Leader College, TCC will advocate for the Achieving the Dream principles on a local, state and national level, Black said. 

“TCC will share best practices with other Achieving the Dream institutions and disseminate lessons learned with other community colleges,” she said.

Black said the distinction is an outcome of the commitment and collaboration on the part of faculty and staff to identify areas where changes need to be made and then work together to determine the best course of action to make those changes.

“All of this work was done with a focus on helping our students to be successful so that they can reach their goals,” she said.

Chancellor Erma Johnson Hadley said administrators targeted low-income and minority students based on data from several studies showing these groups to have the most trouble at community colleges. However, making systemic changes like how to access course materials online and adding programs across the district tailored to helping new students navigate the college landscape, has had a positive effect on everyone, she said.

“What I am most exuberant about is that we have not only raised student success within our target cohort but we have raised success rates across the district among all students,” she said. “I am ecstatic because our people have worked so hard.”

Achieving the Dream is a national nonprofit that focuses on evidence-based data analysis to help community colleges improve student success by implementing programs, workshops and new developmental course material. More than 200 colleges from 34 states participate. Of those, about 75 have earned the Leader College distinction.