Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

PCC is playing a key role in HECC’s $4.1 million statewide effort to support students’ basic needs, career success

Story by James Hill

Oregon community college students who are struggling to overcome basic needs challenges and completing their education just got a $4.1 million boost, and Portland Community College is playing a central role.

The Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) announced receiving a four-year, $4.1 million federal grant through the U.S. Department of Education’s Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Program. The grant will support students at all 17 Oregon community colleges through 2030.

PCC is a key partner in the effort. The college will coordinate project activities among community colleges and statewide organizations, helping to strengthen connections between basic needs assistance, student support services and workforce training opportunities.

“This partnership brings basic needs support and career pathways closer together, making those connections a more intentional part of the student experience,” said Adam Mennig, PCC’s Director of STEP and Pathways to Opportunity. “PCC is proud to help coordinate this statewide effort so more students can stay enrolled, complete their credentials and build greater economic stability for themselves and their families.”

College credentials, the most proven pathway out of poverty, remain out of reach for too many students, due to unmet financial need and basic needs insecurity. According to 2025 national survey data from The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs, 79% of students who had stopped attending college or were considering leaving identified basic needs insecurity as a contributing factor, including food, housing, transportation and childcare.

The initiative builds on PCC’s vast experience connecting students with essential resources and career readiness programs. Pathways to Opportunity and the SNAP Training and Employment Program (STEP) helps eligible students access education and training, while Career Pathways offers stackable short-term training certificates and coaching.

The initiative also builds on Oregon’s existing network of benefit navigators, established through 2021 legislation requiring public colleges and universities to help students access assistance programs. During the 2025-26 academic year, these navigators helped 30,180 college students statewide find resources.

These programs aim to close opportunity gaps and increase economic mobility by expanding the federal, state, and local resources available to low-income students so more people can attend and complete college. PCC’s Pathways to Opportunity leads the college’s work related to addressing students’ unmet financial needs – housing, food, childcare, healthcare, etc. 

Through the grant, PCC will help coordinate several statewide priorities:

• Expanding benefits access: Implementing a screening tool to help students identify public assistance programs for which they may qualify.
• Strengthening student support: Connecting benefit navigators, campus services and community resources to provide more comprehensive assistance.
• Building workforce pathways: Linking basic needs support with industry-aligned credentials, career training and artificial intelligence skills development.
• Increasing direct assistance: Supporting campus-level services tailored to students’ needs.
• Measuring student success: Tracking educational and employment outcomes to improve program effectiveness.

“Identifying a student’s needs is only the first step,” Mennig said. “We need to make sure they can connect with resources that help them keep moving forward.”