Successful PASS

Students have so many hoops to jump through when applying for college: filling out forms, obtaining transcripts, figuring out financial aid; the list goes on. Additionally, students must show that they are ready for college-level academic work. Some colleges require SAT or ACT scores, but Donnelly College recognizes that not all students take these standardized exams due to their high cost and sometimes esoteric subject matter.

Donnelly offers the Accuplacer test (free of charge to applicants) as an alternative for students who have never taken the ACT.

Prior to the fall 2024 semester, students scoring below a certain threshold on the Reading and Writing sections of the Accuplacer would be unable to enroll at Donnelly. Starting this semester, however, there is an alternative: the PASS Literacy and Math classes. These classes are designed to “Prepare Academically Successful Students” so they can be ready for college-level work the following semester. Meeting eight weeks of the semester for three hours class periods, students focus on building their vocabulary and grammar skills, improving math skills, learning reading comprehension skills and increasing math word problem understanding in a student-centered setting.

The main goal of the PASS Literacy and Math classes is to increase the students’ scores on the Accuplacer tests, allowing them to cross that threshold and enroll in college-level courses.

After only four weeks of attending the PASS classes, current students re-took the Accuplacer to determine if there had been an improvement. The results were undeniable. Most students who regularly attended class scored high enough to qualify for college-level courses with four additional weeks to go before the the classes were set to complete. These students may still need extra support through Donnelly’s Success First course or other educational assistance. Still, their hard work and dedication have already shown promising results after only one month.