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TCC is helping to eliminate the financial burden of attending college, and now is the time for Tulsa County seniors to take advantage of this opportunity. Applications are now being accepted for the 2009 Tulsa Achieves program.

Providing students in Tulsa County the opportunity to attend college based on their ability to achieve, not on their ability to pay, is the primary reason for  Tulsa Achieves. By doing so, TCC will increase the number of Tulsa County residents with higher education degrees; increase the number of skilled professionals available in the Tulsa job market; encourage students to graduate high school; and encourage community involvement through service learning/community service.

The Tulsa Achieves program pays up to 100% of tuition and fees for up to 63 college credit hours for students living in Tulsa County and graduating from a public or private high school. Home school graduates who reside in Tulsa County are also eligible for Tulsa Achieves.

Tulsa Achieves is a gap-funding program, meaning that funds are applied to tuition and fees after all state, federal and private and grants are applied. If there is a remaining balance, Tulsa Achieves will pay the rest so there is no cost to the student.

To receive Tulsa Achieves, the student must live in Tulsa County and graduate from high school with a 2.0 GPA or better on a 4.0 scale. Home-schooled students living in Tulsa County must provide parent verification.

Prospective Students

What is Tulsa Achieves?

View the Tulsa Achieves Video Spot 

Tulsa Achieves is a funding program through Tulsa Community College, designed to make a college education attainable for all graduating high school seniors in Tulsa County, regardless of ability to pay. Tulsa Achieves students begin their coursework the fall semester following high school graduation. Students in the Tulsa Achieves Program receive a commitment from TCC that they will not incur costs for tuition and fees for 63 credit hours, or 3 years. The program pays up to 100% of tuition and fees for students each semester; Tulsa Achieves does not cover the cost of books. It is also a way for TCC to give back to the Greater Tulsa community for decades of support, through increased numbers of Tulsa residents with higher education degrees and through the many hours of volunteer service students will provide to the community each year. 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?

To be eligible for Tulsa Achieves, you must:

·         Graduate from a public or private high school, or home school, by May

·         Graduate from high school with at least a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale

·         Be a Tulsa County resident

Current Students

·         Maintain Tulsa County Residence

·         Maintain Good Academic Standing, which is:

o   1.7 GPA for students with 30 credit hours or less

o   2.0 GPA for students with 31 credit hours or more

·         Complete at least 70% of coursework, cumulatively

o   Withdrawing from a class, or failing it, would count against your cumulative completion percentage. If you want to get out of a class, make sure and do so before the deadline for 100% refunds—if you do, it would be a “drop” instead of a “withdraw”, and would not count against your completion percentage. Check your Academic Calendar for the 100% refund dates each semester. In addition, withdrawing from a course after the refund deadline will mean that those hours will count against the total number that Tulsa Achieves will pay for; for example, withdrawing from a 3-credit hour class after the refund deadline means your Tulsa Achieves funding will only cover 60 hours, instead of 63.

·         Complete at least 3 credit hours each fall and spring semester with a grade of “D” or better

o   Summer semesters are optional, Tulsa Achieves funding will provide tuition and fees for students in the summer semesters once they have completed a fall and spring semester under the program

·         Complete a FAFSA each year

·         Complete 40 hours of volunteer service each year using the Volunteer Central database

• Students must successfully complete an Orientation Class within the first year of the program. Students can enroll in either Strategies for Academic Success (ENG 1003), a 3 credit hour college level course, or College Survival (ENG 0963), a zero level course for students who do not have college level writing skills.  

How does the volunteer service work?

Each year students are in the program, they are required to perform 40 hours of volunteer service in the Greater Tulsa area. There will be no paper forms needed for students to keep track of their hours, as they will be counted using a database run by Volunteer Central of Greater Tulsa, which can be found at the following address:

http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/1800Vol/tulsavc/vcindex.do

To register, students can simply go to the above link and click the link for “New Volunteers”. In the registration process, students will be asked to complete a Skills and Availability survey, in order to match them up with volunteer agencies that fit their skills and interests. Once they are registered, students can search for volunteer opportunities, with each Opportunity page providing a link for students to “Express Interest”, which alerts the agency of the student’s desire to volunteer.

When a student engages in volunteer service, the supervisor at their agency will then log the hours the student performed using the Volunteer Central database. Students can log in to their volunteer profile and see how many hours their agencies have logged.

If students would like to volunteer at an agency that is not listed on the database, they can have their agency supervisor register on the database using the same web address as above. The agency can click the link for “New Agency”, and begin the process of becoming listed. However, students should note that they should allow the agency to be listed with Volunteer Central before beginning their volunteer service with that agency, in case they are not approved.

What counts for volunteer service?

Aside from the agencies in the Greater Tulsa area, students can also use hours earned in Service Learning classes, Honors Program classes, and other classes at TCC that use volunteerism as a component of course work. However, hours earned through programs at TCC that require students to perform unpaid work as part of their curriculum, such as clinical and fieldwork in Allied Health programs, would not count towards the volunteer requirement. In addition, activities such as ushering at a student’s church would not count towards volunteer service requirements, although engaging in activities that the student’s church puts on, such as debris cleanup, or reaching out to the homeless, would count.

Do students have to do all of their volunteer work with one agency?

No, students can volunteer for as many agencies as they would like.

Volunteer Central serves the Tulsa area by connecting individuals of all backgrounds to volunteer activities. With this new database, volunteers can search for local opportunities, and agencies can post their current needs.

Volunteer Central is proud to be driving volunteer efforts of Tulsa Community College Tulsa Achieves Students, and OSU-Tulsa!

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