City College of San Francisco (CCSF) was founded in 1935 and is now one of the largest community colleges in California, serving over 60,000 students across six locations. The College prides itself in being a college “of the people, for the people of San Francisco” and embodying the values of innovation and self-determination for which the city is so widely known. CCSF serves the wider San Francisco community as a multicultural, accessible, and affordable provider of quality higher education, offering over 250 degrees and certificates, transferable credits, online courses, and career advancement classes.
During my time on campus, the college’s commitment to serving its student was widely evident. Free college tuition or the equivalent is given to all City College students who are San Francisco Residents, and CCSF serves its DACA students as a Sanctuary College. Its ties to community-based organizations and its innovative academic programs, including the first LGBT Studies Major in the United States, were a point of pride for the college’s faculty, staff, and administrators.
As the world recovers from the impact of the pandemic, City College of San Francisco is placing ever more emphasis on supporting the whole student. One example is the opening of the College’s SparkPoint Center in Fall 2022—one of the first in San Francisco. SparkPoint CCSF supports students’ basic needs, education/employment, and financial health by connecting students to resources and services such as referrals to housing or shelter; childcare; county benefits, including Medical, CalFresh, and Cash Aid, Women Infant and Children (WIC), and Free Tax Help; and Financial Literacy through the College’s Financial Wellness Workshop Series and Financial Coaching. It is the college’s intention to help improve access and navigation to essential resources available to foster students’ academic success and economic prosperity at City College of San Francisco.
Over the last nine months, SparkPoint CCSF has been able to establish new external partnerships with some amazing community organizations vital to bridging the gap and meeting the needs of its low-income, food insecure, and housing insecure students. The center has been actively providing the supports mentioned above by making referrals and providing on-site and virtual services. Students are benefitting from access to childcare, county benefits, employment opportunities, and tax help and financial literacy training. In addition, the center has collaborated with their internal partners at the college to bring direct student support into the center offering services such as flu clinics, career services with employment training specialists, and access to the EOPS/Care/Next Up Program services. In fall 2022 and spring 2023, SparkPoint CCSF served 214 and 192 students, respectively.
Program Successes:
- Opened the Center and hired support staff
- Established snack & hygiene shelves and hosted a food drive
- Participated in college outreach events to increase SparkPoint CCSF visibility
- Created student essential support guide, basic needs website, and developed intentional partnerships with resources and services for marginalized students and community members
- Joined Financial Aid/Basic Needs Community of Practice
A center staff member was pleased to share some positive feedback recently emailed by a student they are working with demonstrating how powerful the work that they are doing at SparkPoint CCSF, Basic Needs Center is and the positive impact it is having on the lives of the students.
“Iam so grateful to have met you because I truly do believe you care, and it makes the biggest difference for a student like me. I don’t feel so scared anymore about whether I can do this because I know I have support!” -SparkPoint CCSF, Basic Needs Center Student
CCSF is also expanding their focus on social justice. Most recently, the College is in the process of creating a 2+2+2 degree pathway in partnership with San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and San Francisco State University (SFSU). This work centers on CCSF’s Social Justice: Ethnic Studies Associate Degree for Transfer and the team plans to launch the 2+2+2 pathway in fall 2024. Proposed commitments among the partners include recruiting and supporting high school student cohorts beginning in 9th grade who visit CCSF and SFSU classes, SFSU faculty visits to CCSF classes, and faculty sharing between both higher education institutions, among others. CCSF looks forward to keeping the community updated on this new degree pathway!
To learn more about City College of San Francisco, visit their website at https://www.ccsf.edu/.
