For nearly 50 years, Colorado State University’s Access Center has provided a range of opportunities and scholarships for students of all ages around Colorado. With a wide range of programs, the Access Center “develops the talents of first-generation, low-income and nontraditionally aged students,” according to their mission statement. 

“Our overall mission is to identify students who really connect to the first generation identity, meaning they’re the first ones in their families pursuing higher education, as well as coming from either lower or limited socioeconomic backgrounds, communities or schools,” said Lucia Delgado, executive director of the Access Center. “What we do, regardless of the program, is we work to mentor the students, guide them, identify their opportunities and just figure out, ‘What is it that I want to do?’ and ‘Which is the best path for me to get there?’”

Some of the Access Center’s programs work with middle and high schools across the state, looking to help students find opportunities in higher education, Delgado said.

“Many of our students choose CSU, but we allow our students to explore a variety of different opportunities in higher education, be that a vocational degree, a two year degree, public, private, CSU or elsewhere,” Delgado said. 

The Access Center has provided programs to students in Colorado since the 1970s, with the first being Upward Bound.

 “Our oldest program is TRIO Upward Bound,” Delgado said. “It was founded in 1977, and that one was the first one. Through that program — it’s a federal grant — we are allocated funds to serve particular schools in the state.”

The Access Center now offers three Upward Bound programs, including the original Upward Bound 1977, another Upward Bound grant that was awarded in 2017 and Upward Bound Math and Science.

“Each program has a very similar criteria, so students have to take academic coursework, participate in community service, as well as hopefully gain some leadership skills, peer connections and social capital,” Delgado said. 

In addition to Upward Bound, the center has a range of other programs including The Alliance Partnership, Educational Talent Search, National Hispanic Institute Colorado Lorenzo De Zavala Youth Legislative Session and Reach Out. For new CSU students, The Access Center hosts the Bridge Scholars program to help get acclimated to life in college. 

“I primarily work with our Bridge Scholars program and our Community for Excellence program out of the Access Center,” said Angel Ruiz, director of Bridge Scholars and partner engagement at the Access Center. 

Ruiz works throughout the year to bring students to CSU before the fall semester starts. 

“It’s an eight-week residential program, but it’s a yearlong endeavor trying to recruit students, partnering with their academic partners, working with campus partners to make sure that we have space and housing and all that stuff,” Ruiz said. 

For first-generation students, whose parents may be unfamiliar with the enrollment and move in process, Ruiz said this program can make a big difference in the transition into college. 

“We’ve got three goals for the program,” Ruiz said. “One is that they get used to the academic rigor and the small supportive environment with other first-gen students. Two, they get used to the physical spaces and the resources that are available to them here on campus. Third, what the students say is probably the most impactful, is the community that they build during the summer that they’re able to take with them in the fall semester, and they can lean on for support as they make that transition.”

Ruiz said the Access Center team is a tight group who are dedicated to the students they serve.

“The staff here is pretty special,” Ruiz said. “We’re all committed to supporting first-gen students (and) students from marginalized backgrounds. Many of our staff are first-gen themselves. 
Many of them are alumni of the programs that we host here at the Access Center.” 

Many of the team members said they agree and hope to further the mission of the Access Center.

“One of the foundational things about the Access Center is the team,” Delgado said. “This team is die-hard dedicated to the work, and I’m really proud to be working with this group of people who are passionate about not only mentoring and guiding the students, but I think what happens is we see a lot of ourselves in our student stories.”

Reach Gracie Douglas at life@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.