The OACHE is a consortium of ten public colleges and universities established in 1993 with the mission of increasing the educational attainment of the citizens of our 29-county region, where the college-going rate is currently about half the national average. The OACHE originated from a suggestion made by farmer, famed restaurateur and then-member of the Ohio Board of Regents Bob Evans to the college presidents. Evans asked that they address the low college-going rate in his native Appalachian Ohio. Acting on this suggestion, the Board of Regents funded a study, completed in 1992, that has become the definitive work on why Appalachians do not go to college. That study, titled Access and Success, instigated the creation of the OACHE.

Access and Success found low self-esteem, poverty, and a lack of information and role models among the strongest barriers to college participation. Accordingly, the OACHE has pursued its mission by awarding "Access Project" grants to member institutions of higher education and, on a competitive basis, to K-12 school districts. Access Projects address limiting stereotypes of who is "college material;" they help kids dream big and find the resources to make those dreams come true. While modest in size, these grants are enabling schools to provide services and opportunities they previously could not afford, or of which they were unaware. Grantees provide career planning and financial aid resources, field trips to businesses and college campuses, guest speakers and other resources to help students and parents make informed decisions about higher education, starting as early as the fifth grade.

To date the OACHE has awarded more than 100 Access Projects in 68 schools. Funding for the OACHE's administration as well as its K–12 and college Access Projects comes from the Ohio General Assembly. In addition, through a federal TRIO grant, the OACHE operates an Educational Opportunity Center that helps low-income, first-generation adult students enter or re-enter college. In partnership with the Southern Ohio Agricultural and Community Development Foundation, the OACHE also administers a program that provides educational funding assistance to Ohio tobacco growers and their family members.

In recognition of its effectiveness, the OACHE has received increasing national attention. In 2003 the OACHE was one of only five programs nationwide to receive the prestigious Innovations in American Government award from Harvard University’s Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation. This recognition led to the showcasing of the OACHE in a 2005 episode of the PBS documentary series The Visionaries, hosted by acclaimed actor Sam Waterston. In 2001 the OACHE received a Public Service Excellence Award from the Public Employees Roundtable, which recognized it as the number-one state program in the country.

Having proven effective in Appalachian Ohio, the OACHE has since helped establish replications of our program in eight other states in and beyond Appalachia. Independent centers are now replicating the OACHE’s model Access program in West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, Virginia and Maine.

Beyond encouraging more Appalachian Ohioans to go to college, the OACHE is also working to improve students’ preparedness and help them persist to degree completion. Accordingly, the OACHE is currently partnering in several initiatives involving college retention, P–16 alignment and improved STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education.

For more information on the OACHE, write to:

Dr. Brenda Haas
Executive Director
Ohio Appalachian Center for Higher Education
c/o Shawnee State University
940 Second Street
Portsmouth, OH 45662

Phone: (740) 351-3299
Fax: (740) 351-3186
E-mail: director@oache.org
Web site: www.oache.org

College Access Program Map