PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Community College is making it easier for students to further their education. In the 2025-26 school year, students from Beaverton High School will only need to graduate from high school in order to be admitted into PCC.
They will not need to fill out an application. Instead, they will be directly admitted to PCC after graduation.
The initiative is meant to incentivize more students to advance their education by creating a guaranteed pathway to college.
"We're going to have more kids with more options," Beaverton High School Principal Andrew Kearl said.
PCC administrators added that some students don’t apply to PCC because they may feel like they don’t fit in at colleges. The program is intended to change that mindset, which could lead students to associate degrees and jobs they may not have otherwise been qualified for. It could also lead to students advancing to four-year universities and earning bachelor's degrees.
"If you go to Beaverton High School, this is going to be an automatic option for you,” Kearl said. “And just that alone, I think, will put it into kids minds that 'I automatically have something that I can go into as soon as I leave this school."'
Currently, the program is a pilot program, though PCC plans to eventually expand the program beyond Beaverton High School, to all seniors in the district. Eventually, PCC administrators said they hope to waive the application for students across the Portland metro-area.
That change could make a big difference in the lives of many students.
“I think it can mean a lot for students who previously might not have seen themselves at college,” Bridget Jones, the director of admissions and recruitment at PCC, said.
"Especially for our historically marginalized students, it's really going to make an impact," Kearl added.