Tulsa Achieves
Important Tulsa Achieves Announcements:
Tulsa Achieves Funding for Fall 2010 - Tulsa Achieves funds will only be applied to student accounts after all Financial Aid awards are applied. All TA students will carry a balance on their student accounts until both Financial Aid and Tulsa Achieves funding is applied. Please check your MyTCC email regarding your Tulsa Achieves funding.
TA Information Sessions - Tulsa Achieves applicants that did not attend one of the TA Information Sessions throughout the summer are responsible for familiarizing themselves with all TA guidelines as well as correctly creating a volunteer profile on the 1-800-volunteer.org website and finding eligible volunteer agencies. For more information on how to create the account, see the "Volunteer" section below.
Text "tachieves" to 41411 to receive text message updates about Tulsa Achieves information and deadlines.
standard text message rates apply
Click HERE for a Printable "Application Checklist"
Only Enrollment and Registration Offices will accept Tulsa Achieves Application Documents.
Email Questions to: tulsaachieves@tulsacc.edu
(Current Students, click HERE)
What Is Tulsa Achieves?
Am I eligible for Tulsa Achieves?
When are Tulsa Achieves documents/applications due?
What are the requirements to stay in Tulsa Achieves?
What are the Volunteer Service requirements?
How do I complete my FAFSA?
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Tulsa Achieves? (return)
TCC helps eliminate the financial burden of attending college by providing additional funding to fill the "gap" between financial aid and the cost of attending college. Print, sign and submit the Tulsa Achieves Program Agreement Form to Enrollment and Registration on any campus.
For eligible students, Tulsa Achieves pays up to 100% of tuition and fees for a maximum of 63 college credit hours. As a gap-funding program, Tulsa Achieves pays any remaining balance after all state, federal and private aid and grant funding have been applied. There is no cost to the student!*
Tulsa Achieves students begin their coursework the fall semester after high school graduation and may continue in the program for 63 credit hours of three years, whichever comes first.
*Tulsa Achieves does not cover the cost of books.
Eligible students must live in Tulsa County and graduate from high school with a 2.0 GPA or better on a 4.0 scale. Home school graduates who reside in Tulsa County are also eligible for Tulsa Achieves, but must provide parental verification.
Why did TCC start the Tulsa Achieves Program?
The answer is simple - Students in Tulsa County should have the opportunity to attend college based on an ability to achieve, not an ability to pay.
It's all about giving back to, and improving, our community. By increasing the number of Tulsa County residents with higher education degrees, we can increase the number of skilled professionals available in the Tulsa job market. We hope to encourage students to graduate high school and engage their community through service learning/volunteer service. With Tulsa Achieves, TCC is helping to ensure that Tulsa continues to grow, just as Tulsa has ensured the growth of TCC.
Am I Eligible for Tulsa Achieves? (return)
To be eligible for Tulsa Achieves, you must:
Graduate from a public or private high school, or home school
Graduate with at least a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale
Reside in Tulsa County* (and maintain Tulsa County residency)
*Must be a U.S. Citizen or Legal Resident
What are the requirements to maintain Tulsa Achieves funding? (return)
In order to maintain Tulsa Achieves funding, students must:
Maintain Tulsa County Residency
Maintain Good Academic Standing
Earn a 1.7 GPA with 30 credit hours or less
Earn a 2.0 GPA with 31 credit hours or more
Complete at least 70% of attempted coursework, cumulatively
Complete at least 3 credit hours each fall and spring semester
Complete a FAFSA each year
Complete 40 hours of volunteer service each academic year
Complete an Orientation Class within the first year of the program.
("complete" = "D" or better)
Volunteer Service (return)
What are the volunteer service requirements?
What counts for volunteer service?
How are my service hours recorded and reported?
How do I register online for Volunteer Service?
What if I don't see the service opportunity I'm looking for?
What are the volunteer service requirements? (return)
For each year students are in the program, they are required to perform 40 hours of volunteer service. This service must be performed in Tulsa County and must benefit the community in a positive way. Obviously, students cannot receive compensation for their service.
What counts as volunteer service? (return)
Any unpaid, non-compensated activity at an eligible Tulsa County not-for-profit agency will be considered. Eligible agencies must be registered with Volunteer Central of Greater Tulsa. Additionally, students may also use hours earned in Service Learning classes, Honors Program classes, and other classes at TCC that include volunteerism as a component of course work.
Students may not use hours earned through programs at TCC that require unpaid work as part of the curriculum (clinical and fieldwork, internships, etc). Activities such as out-of-county mission trips and ushering at church would not count toward volunteer service, although activities that the student's church puts on, such as debris cleanup, or reaching out to the homeless, would count. Ultimately, eligible service must benefit the community, not simply the organization at which the service occurred. Furthermore, unpaid work at a for-profit business is not eligible volunteer service.
How are service hours recorded and reported? (return)
Tulsa Achieves will not accept phone calls, emails or paper forms as verification of volunteer service.
In order to effectively manage all Tulsa Achieves students' service, TCC has partnered with Volunteer Central of Greater Tulsa to administer all aspects of volunteer service using the online tool, 1-800-volunteer.org
As a student completes volunteer service, the organization's volunteer administrator records the completed service. The student may then log into his or her account to review the Record of Service. Volunteer Central provides Tulsa Achieves with monthly reports of student service.
How do I register online for Volunteer Service? (return)
Students must register with Volunteer Central of Greater Tulsa.
Click HERE to create your personal volunteer account.
Click "New Volunteers" and follow the instructions.
Search for volunteer opportunities among 900+ organizations.
Express interest in a volunteer opportunity by clicking "Express Interest"
Organizations cannot submit students' completed service until this "virtual link" has been created between the student and the organization. Students should contact the organization's volunteer administrator the following day.
What if I don't see the volunteer opportunity I'm looking for? (return)
Contact Volunteer Central of Greater Tulsa at 918.447.1888.
What Is Volunteer Central of Greater Tulsa? (return)
Volunteer Central serves the Tulsa area by connecting individuals of all ages and backgrounds to meaningful volunteer opportunities. Volunteer Central educates/equips volunteer administrators in effectively managing volunteer resources to fufill their organizations' missions.
Volunteer Central is proud to partner with Tulsa Community College and other educational institutions to help students become active citizens and to help develop the community's workforce and future leaders!
Frequently Asked Questions (return)
What does TCC mean by Tulsa County Resident?
I don’t live in Tulsa County. Does my county residency still qualify?
I earned a GED. Do I qualify for Tulsa Achieves?
I already graduated from high school. Do I still qualify?
What if I do more than 40 hours of service per year?
Do I have to do all of my volunteer service with one organization?
What does TCC mean by Tulsa County Resident? (return)
When TCC speaks of Residency as it relates to Tulsa Achieves, there are a few things to consider:
Tulsa Achieves Applicants must be eligible for aid from the State of Oklahoma. That is, they must be Residents of Oklahoma and the United States. Applicants who claim Residency or Citizenship status from a country other than the United States do not qualify for Tulsa Achieves.
Applicants must be Residents of Tulsa County. They must live within the Tulsa County limits. Families that own property in Tulsa County, but do not reside in Tulsa County, do not qualify.
To qualify for Tulsa Achieves, students must be residents of Tulsa County (as defined above) at the time of high school graduation. A student attending all four years of high school in Tulsa County and graduates may receive 100% Tulsa Achieves funding. A student that attends only senior year in Tulsa County and graduates qualifies for 25% funding. A student that attends junior and senior years in Tulsa County and graduates qualifies for 50% funding. A student attending sophomore, junior and senior years in Tulsa County and graduates qualifies for 75% funding. If a student does not graduate from high school while residing in Tulsa County, that student does not qualify for Tulsa Achieves.
I don't live in Tulsa County, does my county residency still qualify? (return)
Only Tulsa County residents qualify for Tulsa Achieves.
I earned a GED. Do I qualify for Tulsa Achieves? (return)
Students that have earned a GED do not qualify for the program. Tulsa Achieves was developed to increase the number of students going directly from high school into college.
I already graduated from high school? Do I still qualify? (return)
Only students that go directly from high school into college qualify for Tulsa Achieves. Each graduation class entering TCC, does so as a Tulsa Achieves cohort. The window of opportunity to apply for Tulsa Achieves is between January of your Senior year and the August following graduation.
What if I do more than 40 hours of service per year? (return)
Any service in excess of 40 hours per academic year will be added to the following academic year's balance. For example, if you complete 60 hours of volunteer service your first year in the program, you will only be required to submit 20 hours the following year. If you do 120 hours your first year, you don't have to perform any additional service hours!
Do I have to do all of my volunteer service with one organization? (return)
No. Students may volunteer at as many different Tulsa County organizations as they wish. However, the organization must be registered with Volunteer Central of Greater Tulsa.
2010 High School Graduates!
Application Timeline for Tulsa Achieves (return)
January through April, 2010
Apply for parent and student FAFSA PIN numbers
Click HERE to access FAFSA.ed.gov website.
Click "Request a PIN number."
Your PIN number will be emailed within 3 days to the address you provide.
Save your PIN numbers - you will use this PIN every year.
Students must submit a FAFSA each year.
Complete the online FAFSA for 2010-2011 - Before April 30.
Click HERE to begin your FAFSA
Have the most recent tax forms available.
When prompted, enter the TCC school code. TCC Code is 009763.
Once finished, "sign" the form using your electronic PIN number.
The following is due on or before April 30, 2010
It is strongly encouraged that all documents be submitted in person. Mailed documents must be mailed together and postmarked by April 30th. You are responsible for ensuring TCC has received mailed items. TCC is not responsible for lost or missing mailed items.
TCC web application - click HERE to access the TCC Web Application. For Admission Type, select "First Time Entering College." For Admission Term, select "Fall 2010 Credit Classes"
Tulsa Achieves Program Agreement form signed by the student. Submit the entire document to Enrollment and Registration on any campus.
May through July, 2010
Due on or before July 15, 2010:
Submit any documents to Enrollment and Registration offices, at any campus:
Final, official, 8 semester high school transcript verifying graduation data and G.P.A. 2.0 or greater.
ACT scores or College Placement Test
Meet with an Academic Advisor at any campus
Enroll in classes for Fall 2010 semester
Click here for a printable application "checklist"