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Title III

Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP)

In October 2019, the U.S. Department of Education awarded Seattle Central College a Title III Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) grant of more than $2.2 million over a five-year period. The purpose of this grant is to help eligible colleges become self-sufficient and expand their capacity to serve low-income students by providing funds to improve and strengthen their academic quality, institutional management, and fiscal stability.

Seattle Central will implement three main activities:

Activity 1: Launch a First Year Experience Program

  • Develop and implement an equity-based Directed Self-Placement tool that can be expanded to other instructional departments
  • Develop and teach a mandatory, credit-bearing First Year College Skills course that includes career and academic planning, and college skills.

Activity 2: Implement Activities to Support the First Year Experience

  • Career Exploration-First Year Experience Center that helps Exploratory students choose an area of study and begin planning their coursework
  • Restructure and redesign New Student Orientation to focus more on pathways and careers to make it more responsive to student needs.

Activity 3: Launch a Coordinated, College-Wide Professional Development Program

  •  Ensure that faculty and staff have the tools and skills needed to support students. 

Seattle Central’s Title III grant has two primary goals:

  • Increase rates of retention and completion and decrease the length of time to completion, with a focus on reducing differences in outcomes between white students and historically underserved students of color
  • Improve in-class and non-instructional support for students through a coordinated, college-wide professional development program.

The contents of this website were developed under a 5-year $2,207,882 grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Strengthening Institutions Program. However, the content does not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Department of Education and should not be considered an endorsement by the Federal Government.