Plus 50 Completion Strategy

About the Plus 50 Initiative

The Plus 50 Initiative is conducted by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) to benchmark and showcase the most current and innovative programs at community colleges to engage the 50+ learner. Through the AACC Plus 50 Initiative community colleges create or expand campus programs to engage the 50+ population in learning; training or retraining programs; and volunteer, civic, or service activities.

Community colleges participate in the three-year grant program in learning teams. Demonstration Colleges are launching new programs for students in the 50 + population with the help of seed grants. They are aided with valuable expertise from five Mentor Colleges that already have established programs for students over the age of 50.

Plus 50 at Clover Park Technical College

Here at Clover Park Technical College, we feel that age should never play a factor in someone being successful, whether that involves completing a degree program, finding a new job, or just socializing with members of their own age group.  Some of our efforts to assist plus 50 students achieve this success include:

Continuing Education Classes

Our Continuing Education department has 50+ offerings both in the fields of Professional Development, as well as Personal Enrichment.  Our 50+ art classes are a great favorite, including Oil Painting, Woodcarving and Mixed Media.  Some of our 50+ art students have been enrolled in these classes for almost 13 years!  For more information on Clover Park’s Continuing Education department, click here.

Opportunity Grants

The Opportunity Grant can help with money to help cover tuition, books, and some additional financial support depending on need.  This grant allows low-income students to earn up to 45 credits in a job training program that is high wage and high demand.  Students also participate in personal and professional development workshops.  For more information on Clover Park’s Opportunity Grants, click here.

plus 50 Expo

For the past two years, Clover Park has been hosting the “Recareering @ 50+ Expo” on our campus.  This event partners the community and technical colleges of Pierce County with AARP, local workforce development and public assistance organizations, the Pierce County Library system, and others to gather employers, community organizations, and industry experts together under one roof so to be more easily accessible to individuals 50 years old and older.  This year’s event saw 400 attendees from Pierce County and surrounding areas.

Pathways to Success

As part of the plus 50 Completion Strategy at Clover Park Technical College, we have recently developed our Pathways to Success program, aimed towards assisting plus 50 individuals achieve success in re-entering school or the job market with intensive short-term refresher courses in Math, Computing and more.

Want to know more about AACC & plus 50?

Check it out here.