From discussions in board rooms to classrooms at Manhattan Area Technical College, the Manhattan Pathways project was ratified on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 1 p.m.
Karen Goos, vice provost for enrollment management, said launching this program has been a point of discussion for a while.
“This program has been a long time coming,” Goos said. “We have been talking and dreaming about this project since Dr. Bosco’s time, six years ago.”
Goos said this partnership signifies a commitment to work together with the community and other institutions to provide access to Manhattan and the higher education opportunities here.
“We understand that there are multiple ways to achieve the goal of earning a degree, and we want to increase awareness of these other alternative paths and make a degree more realistic for more people,” Goos said. “This program helps us answer the question of ‘how can we think of new ways to help students think about a path to KSU?’”
This pathway is designed so that students who aren’t admissible by the traditional checklist can work towards their degree goals in a format that supports and prepares them while they participate in university classes and activities.
The implementation team has been working through the logistics of this program since April, Goos said, and students are already enrolled for the fall of 2026.
“Participating students will be registered as degree-seeking students at [Manhattan Area Technical College], but they will live in the K-State dorms,” Goos said. “Once they have completed a minimum of 24 credit hours and hold a 2.0 GPA at Manhattan Tech, they will transfer to K-State.”
Goos said the goal of this program is to “eliminate the guesswork” of coming to K-State.
“When students are unsure of the path, they are just out there hoping to make their way,” Goos said. “This program allows us to help students find the classes, people and resources to help them be successful. It gives them access to a comprehensive roadmap.”
One of the biggest hiccups that has prevented this program from launching earlier, Goos said, was figuring out the logistics; how personal student information is shared between institutions, how scholarships and financial aid will transfer and how application information is shared.
Goos said this program was designed specifically for students who need some extra support and guidance before they fully commit to the transition to K-State.
“I hope that this program helps students with dreams of coming to K-State see that no one is moving the goal posts,” Goos said. “We don’t just want to recruit students to KSU; we want to recruit successful graduates.”
