Complete College America has had a big year! 2024 was a year of new projects, great events, publications (like our newest white paper, Complete College, America: Harnessing the Power of Higher Education to Renew American Democracy), and another successful Annual Convening. However, one of the best ways to support college completion year round is to take time to get to know the Alliance. Throughout the year, CCA staff takes opportunities to learn in real time, visiting campuses and talking with staff to better understand and support different facets of the college completion landscape. In this edition of the Amplification Lab, we’ll take a look back at one of this year’s visits.
As part of a professional development retreat in June, the Complete College America Strategy Team visited the College of Health Care Professions (CHCP) Houston-Northwest campus. The College of Health Care Professions is a for-profit healthcare focused institution with nine campuses across Texas, plus online and hybrid programs, institutionally accredited by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). CHCP Chancellor and CEO Eric Bing invited CCA to see CHCP’s intensive and innovative approach to student support in career and technical education, featured in Inside Higher Ed and Real Clear Education, firsthand. The Strategy Team toured the facility and viewed hands-on learning spaces for the sonography and dental assisting programs, discussed learning strategies with faculty, and then sat down with administrators to ask questions about the mission, outcomes, and approaches to equity championed within this environment.
- CCA staff view equipment in a CHCP lab.
- CCA and CHCP Staff
- Dr. Ian Avington shows CCA staff a lab mannequin.
The most important question about any student success approach is always “does it work?” The staff at CHCP answered this with a resounding “yes,” and offered compelling data to support that assurance. CHCP shares the following statistics about the student population across their nine campuses:
- CHCP is the largest provider of allied healthcare training in Texas.
- 72% of students are 22 years or older; 90% are female and 42% are parenting.
- 43% of CHCP students have attempted college previously.
- CHCP boasts a job placement rate of 84%, with the average salary increase for a certificate earner at over $27,000 per year. Associate degree earners see a similar increase in salary, with the average salary at $14,695 before entry and at $41,600 after completion.
- The overall retention rate at CHCP sits at 81%. A study from the Rice University School Mathematics Project found that the graduation rate for Hispanic students in CHCP programs was 79% between 2012-2018 for certificate programs and 63% for associate degree programs, higher than both national and state comparisons. The same study found that the majority of Hispanic identifying CHCP students are first generation, with only 26% reporting at least one parent with a college degree.
Northwest Campus President Ian Avington and CHCP Chancellor and CEO Eric Bing joined the Strategy Team on our visit, and answered a number of questions about this unique take on healthcare education. President Avington took a few moments after our visit to reflect on the discussion and share some additional thoughts on the role of CHCP in their communities and the larger higher education landscape.
Dr. Ian Avington at CHCP Northwest during a June visit from the CCA Strategy Team.
CCA: How do CHCP’s certification-to-career student success supports intentionally set up students for meaningful employment upon graduation?
MR. AVINGTON: Our full wraparound services start on day one. Our expectation is that every individual is greeted when they come in the door because our philosophy is that we should be the person reaching out to our students versus them having to reach out to us. We are a student first college. That goes for our student advisors and faculty, too. They’re expected to check in with their students consistently.
Our students are not numbers. They are a person with a name. When we show our students respect and that we care, that gives them hope that they can achieve.
Another change we made was strategically moving Career Services to the front of the building in a glass-encased office that students can see when they come in the door. Our students have access to Career Services and our Student Success Coordinator as soon as they enroll. Many of our students need to work while they’re in school, so Career Services works on their resumes, improves their interviewing techniques and helps them find a part-time job. We also work with our students after they complete our programs to help them start their careers. Our students have access to Career Services for life. They can come back as many times as they need to after they graduate.
If our students need something like a bus pass, they can get one from our Student Success Coordinator. We have a relationship with METRO, the public transportation provider in Houston, and we advocated for and got a bus stop right outside our building. Our student assistance program also connects students to child care, legal services and wellness services.
Our students come to CHCP to receive an education, but education is just part of it. Their real goal is a professional career. We ensure that they get the career they came for. It takes every single individual at CHCP to make this work.
CCA: How does your campus adapt to the specific needs and demographics of the area that you serve?
MR. AVINGTON: We serve a diverse student population — more than half of our students are Hispanic — and many of them live in disadvantaged communities. The vast majority of our students are women, and many of them are raising children. Nearly 40% of our students have already tried traditional colleges, but for whatever reason it didn’t work for them.
We try to meet our students where they are — and many of our students are working, raising children and other life commitments. That’s why our campus offers hybrid schedules that require students in some programs to be on campus just two days a week — Monday and Wednesday, or Tuesday and Thursday. Our Medical Assisting certificate program classes meet on Friday, so those students only have to come to campus one day a week. The rest of the work is online. We offer those programs with both day and night schedules for maximum flexibility. That allows our students to be able to go to work and save on daycare and commuting costs and still be able to achieve an education to improve themselves.
Students walk down a stairway at CHCP.
Our employer partnerships are an important part of how we meet the needs of our students. CHCP has partnerships with over 2,5,000 employers, who either provide externships for our students or do direct hire. Some hospitals and clinics do both. Externships give our students true hands-on experience and teaches them professionalism that helps them be ready to hire. Our employers are part of an advisory board that gives us input on our curriculum. That means our employer partners know CHCP students are being taught relevant information, which means they know our graduates are prepared to work and do a good job for them. In addition with our employer feedback we are always reviewing our curriculum to stay current.
Remember that many of our students have been overlooked in school. They have been told that they can’t make it or can’t do it. Our philosophy is you can. Our students just need a different type of training and teaching and caring. When we help them succeed, it gives them pride and a sense of belonging.
One difference I should have mentioned earlier is that we offer short-term stackable programs. In nine months, our students can go from not working to being employed and making good money, benefits and steady hours. That gives them the feeling that they can do it and that they have value, which is something many CHCP students haven’t felt before. The ultimate goal is to help our students gain skills and a career that allows them to take care of themselves and their families. That’s huge.
CCA: We appreciated hearing the stories and learning about the commitment to student success from the team at the Northwest campus. Can you share more about the “people” side of student success at CHCP?
MR. AVINGTON: Here’s a great example of a student who we helped balance school and work so he could complete school and get a career. When Misael Anaya enrolled in our Medical Billing and Coding certificate program, we set him up with Career Services, which helped him build a resume and find a job as a sales consultant at a local optometrist’s office. Misael would come to school at 8 a.m. for classes and to do assignments, then go to his new job in the afternoon. He told our staff members how thankful he was that they taught him to manage his time and finances so that he could finish school. After he earned his certificate, Misael got a job as a medical billing and coding specialist. He later returned to CHCP to earn his AAS in Health and Medical Administrative Services and is now enrolled in our online bachelor’s degree program in Healthcare Administration. Our staff helped show Misael how he could be successful, and our stackable programs have helped him carve out a new path for himself.
CCA thanks the College of Health Professions, President Avington, Chancellor Bing, and CHCP Houston-Northwest for hosting the Strategy Team and sharing their story with the Amplification Lab.
Want to share what’s happening on your campus for the Amplification Lab, or to invite us to visit you the next time we’re in town? Contact us!
