Courtesy Laguardia Community College
MOHAMED FARGHALY
mfarghaly@queensledger.com
LaGuardia Community College has received a new grant aimed at helping adult students stay on track toward graduation, part of a broader citywide effort to remove barriers that disproportionately affect historically underrepresented college students.
The Long Island City-based campus was awarded $94,342 from the College Completion Innovation Fund, a collaborative education fund that partners with community-based organizations and colleges to improve student persistence and degree completion. The money will support the creation of an Adult Learner Evening Hub, a centralized space offering academic and support services tailored to students who attend classes after traditional business hours.
Since 2015, CCIF has invested more than $8 million in 34 projects across 17 City University of New York campuses and 11 community-based organizations. Most students served by the initiatives are low-income, first-generation college students, students of color and others traditionally underrepresented among degree holders.
The fund’s vision calls for a New York City where students can attain a postsecondary degree regardless of race, ZIP code or socioeconomic status.
At LaGuardia, college leaders say the Evening Hub is a response to shifting student demographics and longstanding access gaps. Adult learners are becoming the majority of the student population, according to administrators, many of whom balance coursework with jobs and family responsibilities.
Dr. Marsha Oropeza, director of Adult Learner Success and Credit for Prior Learning in Academic Affairs and principal investigator for the project, said the idea grew directly out of conversations with adult students.
“While this initiative is focused on adult learners enrolled in degree programs, the concept for the Adult Learner Evening Hub emerged directly from the CPL Office’s work with adult students across both degree and workforce pathways,” said Dr. Oropeza. “Through this work, we have consistently heard from adult learners, especially those transitioning from workforce training and certificate programs, that once they enter degree programs, they struggle to access critical services because most supports are not available in the evening.”
She said the demographic shift, combined with the implementation of the New York State Opportunity Promise, requires colleges to adapt quickly.
“This shift, coupled with the implementation of the New York State Opportunity Promise (NYSOP), creates both an opportunity for the college to respond differently and immediately,” she said. “Students must be supported in ways that reflect their lived realities.”
The Adult Learner Evening Hub is designed to reduce structural barriers that often cause students to stop out before completing their degrees. By aligning advising and student services with evening schedules, the college aims to improve persistence and strengthen enrollment among working adults.
“By intentionally aligning evening academic and student support services with adult learners’ schedules, the Hub will strengthen enrollment, improve persistence, and reinforce LaGuardia’s role as a college built for working adults not just in principle, but in practice,” she said.
Planned services include academic advising, credit for prior learning evaluations, tutoring, faculty office hours, career counseling and basic-needs assistance. The college also hopes to provide rotating evening access to offices such as the registrar, bursar and financial aid.
“Services we hope to include in the work through this planning grant will include academic advising, Credit for Prior Learning (CPL), tutoring, faculty office hours, career counseling, basic needs support, and rotating access to student services such as the registrar, bursar, and financial aid,” Dr. Oropeza said.
Although the hub focuses on degree-seeking adult learners, administrators say it builds on LaGuardia’s workforce-to-credit pathways, where students often begin with training or certificate programs before transitioning into associate degree tracks.
“Many adult students begin at the college through ACE workforce training and certificate programs and later transition into degree programs through our articulation to credit agreements,” she said. “The CPL Office has recognized that these students require continued, holistic support once they cross into the credit side, and the Hub is designed to ensure that continuity.”
CCIF officials say projects like LaGuardia’s reflect the fund’s broader mission to dismantle institutional barriers, promote innovation and strengthen collaboration across New York City’s educational ecosystem. In addition to supporting new programs, the fund advocates for policy changes and encourages data sharing to improve transparency and student outcomes.
LaGuardia Community College, a Hispanic-Serving Institution founded in 1971, offers more than 50 associate degree programs and over 65 continuing education options. Part of the City University of New York system, the college serves students from Queens and across the city, with a longstanding focus on advancing socioeconomic mobility for underserved communities.
