San Antonio College Named Star Award Finalist

San Antonio College has been named a finalist for the Star Award, a prestigious honor given by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

SAC was nominated for its Student Advocacy Center, a first-of-its-kind integrated, campus-based, case management and mental health services support program for students. Created in the fall of 2016, the center’s goal is to provide basic needs support to reduce barriers that hinder the completion of college.

The center provides immediate critical intervention for mental health emergencies such as suicidal thoughts as well as emergency intervention for basic needs emergencies such as eviction. The center also provides an onsite food pantry, clothes closet, emergency assistance, support with books, counseling services and support groups.

The Star Award recognizes exceptional contributions made toward meeting one or more of the goals of 60x30TX, the Texas higher education plan, which include:  

• Increasing the postsecondary educational attainment level of the state’s 25- to 34-year-old population (Educated Population Goal).

• Increasing the number of students completing a certificate, associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degree from an institution of higher education in Texas (Completion Goal).

• Increasing the number of programs with identified marketable skills at Texas public institutions of higher education (Marketable Skills Goal). 

• Implementing programs or cost efficiencies that help to ensure undergraduate student loan debt will not exceed 60 percent of first-year wages (Student Debt Goal).

SAC is one of seven finalists for the Star Award. The winner will be announced on Nov. 22 during the Annual Star Awards luncheon and ceremony in conjunction with the 2019 Texas Higher Education Leadership Conference to be held in Austin.

 –SAC–