The American Association of Community Colleges’ (AACC) Pathways Project is launching a new phase: AACC Pathways 2.0.  It’s a new round of Pathways Institutes aimed at helping community colleges design and implement guided academic and career pathways at scale, for all of their students.

Thirty colleges are currently involved in the AACC Pathways Project, which launched in 2015. They’ve been participating in institutes and working with coaches. They’ll continue their work will through spring 2018. The project is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. AACC has partnered on the initiative with Achieving the Dream, Inc., the Aspen Institute, the Center for Community College Student Engagement, the Community College Research Center, Jobs for the Future, the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement, and Public Agenda.

The Pathways 2.0 project will emphasize use of a small set of data points that serve as strong indicators of student momentum. An inventory tailored by the Community College Research Center for the project will be used to measure each college’s progress on implementation of essential features of guided pathways reforms.

Colleges interested in taking part in Pathways 2.0 should send their preliminary intent to apply by Feb. 17. Final applications are due March 31. Twenty-five colleges will be selected and they must commit to paying of annual fees over the 3-year period of their participation. More information is available online.

Is your college working to implement pathways? Talk about it on LinkedIn.