Aims Community College Foundation

Background Statement

Aims Community College is a public, open-admissions, two-year higher education institution located in northern Colorado and offers a wide variety of educational programs, certificates, and community services. It serves primarily Greeley, but has three satellite campuses in other parts of Weld and Larimer counties, serving 7,000 students yearly. The Aims Community College Foundation is a nonprofit educational trust established in 1979 by visionary leaders who saw the value of preparing for the future growth of Aims Community College. The purpose of the Foundation is to endorse and support the mission of Aims Community College through the responsible and ethical solicitation, stewardship, and investment of funds.

The Foundation is primarily responsible for the solicitation and distribution of private scholarships for the students across all Aims campuses: Greeley, Loveland, Windsor and Fort Lupton, representing both Weld and Larimer communities. It collaborates closely with the Aims Student Financial Assistance department to ensure proper funds allocation. It is currently running over 80 different scholarships, but the main one is a scholarship program called the Aims College Promise (Aims Promise). This is a program that gives last-dollar-in scholarships to Greeley and Fort Lupton students who enroll in college within three years of their high school graduation. These students receive up to $2,500 for tuition, fees, books, and supplies for the first two years of college. The program started in Fall 2008 and since then 564 new students have applied for the Aims Promise Scholarship and completed the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as part of the requirements. Many of these would not have enrolled without the promotion of this program by their high school counselors and administrators. Furthermore, due to the support this program has offered students, there were 108 Associate degrees, 278 certificates, 37 Bachelor degrees and 2 Master degrees awarded to the students. The retention rate that the Aims Promise students have achieved is impressive. From Fall 2014 to Spring 2015 it reached 91.7%, while looking specifically at the Hispanic students, it was 94.4%. The same numbers for the institution overall are: 77%, respectively 80%. The program has been highly successful. More than that, it has seen a significant enrollment increase as well over the past year: over 50%. There were 60 students enrolled in the Aims Promise in 2014-2015, while in 2015-2016 there are already 74 students, just in the Fall semester, with an estimated award of $173,000.