Impact Story - Otsego Career Access Network
Six years ago, the Otsego Community Foundation’s (OCF) Education Committee dug into some data and were shocked by what they found: though Otsego county ranked 7th out of 83 Michigan counties in the number of students deemed “college ready” (as measured by SAT scores), that ranking dropped to 22nd in the state when it came to the number of students enrolling in postsecondary training, and then sunk to 44th for the number of students completing post-secondary training. Worse still, economically-disadvantaged students were 15-20% lower than non-disadvantaged students for nearly all of these
figures.
Though the committee had previously focused on distributing scholarships, committee member Mary Fox says, “We saw this as an opportunity for more meaningful impact,” one that had the potential to change not just students’ lives but the future of Otsego county. The committee applied for and secured a grant from the Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) to establish a community-wide collaborative effort focused on the issue of post-secondary education in Otsego county. Known as the Otsego Career Access Network (OCAN) – to show their commitment not just to college access but to any
training beyond high school that could lead to a successful career – this effort has four main goals:
1. Increase enrollment in advanced training and education following high school, particularly among economically-disadvantaged students
2. Increase completion of advanced training and education within six years of enrollment
3. Increase attainment of advanced training and education among working adults
4. Increase attainment of advanced training and education in Otsego County to 50% by 2030
OCAN has primarily focused on their first goal through their Summer Melt program, which pairs students with College Success Coaches throughout the school year – and especially the summer after graduation – to help them conquer any barriers that might prevent them from attending post-secondary education.
According to OCAN’s Network Coordinator, Brian Pearson, “It might be a six week or a six-month training program. It might be an associates degree. It might be a doctorate.” Whatever training these seniors want to pursue, OCAN wants to make sure they’re prepared to achieve it. “We think each
and every student that graduates from any of the area schools is certainly higher education material,” he says.
But what do these barriers actually look like? According to College Success Coach Danica Nowak, it can be just about anything, from confusion around the process for getting books for their first college classes to questions about their financial aid options. “They don’t always have a parent who’s been through the process,” she says, “so they don’t really understand it.”
For one student whose only family car broke down just before orientation, it even meant getting a ride to their new school. “Danica drove her there and that student got through orientation and enrolled in college,” said Brian. Though it was just another day for Danica (“They all have my cell phone number in case they have a question,” she says), Brian says that kind of support is what makes OCAN special.
Thanks to their success with the Way Forward campaign, a fundraising effort to enhance their grantmaking abilities, OCF was looking for high-impact partners to support and their initial work with OCAN gave them confidence to invest in the mission. According to Dana Bensinger, Executive Director for OCF, they provided a match for OCAN’s initial grant and have since awarded them multiyear grants to continue their work in the community. And,
she says, the results so far speak for themselves.
“When OCAN launched in 2022, Otsego county’s rate for training beyond high school in the working age population (ages 18-64) was 33%,” and their goal was 50% by 2030. “Today in 2025,” she says, “40% of our working age population has training beyond high school,” and their Summer Melt enrollment numbers increased to 69% in 2025, up from 63% in 2024 and 61% in 2023.
According to Brian, OCF’s support has been instrumental in this early success. “What we do for students,” he says, “the community foundation has done for us. They remove barriers so that we can do our work.”
That work isn’t limited to careers beyond Otsego county. OCAN has also done regular outreach with local employers to identify career needs in the community and help interested students research relevant training options. “We’re going to have students that go all over the place in their careers and I want them to have that opportunity,” Brian says. “But if you want to come back [to Otsego county] and live,” he wants that local pipeline to be there.
Brian reiterates that OCAN’s work isn’t just transformative for local students, it’s a net positive for the entire county. In communities with higher levels of advanced training, he says, “crime rates go down, the need for emergency-type healthcare goes down, life expectancy goes up, and overall community giving goes up. The quality of life for everyone in that community is better.” That, he says, is why they remain committed to these goals. “As long as there’s one or two or 10 people out there that need these pathways built,” Brian says, “OCAN’s going to be here to help.”