Located in HHS Region 9, Arizona is an economically and culturally diverse state that currently faces dramatic health care profession shortages, requiring urgent attention. In 2011, The University of Arizona Health Sciences (UAHS) established a robust collaboration with various community partners to create the Arizona Health Opportunities Pathways to Excellence (AZ- HOPE) program to assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in entering and succeeding in allied health and health professions programs. Since original funding concluded three years ago, AZ-HOPE was sustained by leveraging partnerships and resources to successfully deliver impactful structured programs. This foundation ideally positions the current AZ-HOPE’s Comprehensive Approach to address the statutorily authorized activities of the National HCOP Academies Program. The current proposal serves the following populations: Rising High School Junior/Seniors (HS), Adult Non-traditional learners (NTL) including Veterans, Allied Health Professions (AHP) Degree Students, Undergraduate (UG) students, and Health Professions (HP) Students—including Post-baccalaureate students. Impact will be maximized through the creation of AZ-HOPE Ambassadors, an innovative program that formalizes continuous longitudinal support to assist the success of students from disadvantaged backgrounds as they progress from high school towards allied health and/or health professional degrees. Ambassadors will receive ongoing academic advising, culturally tailored social support and financial counseling, financial assistance in the form of stipends and scholarships, and advocacy through a dedicated case management. residential health career exploration and college preparation program for HS); Summer Bridge (new summer transition program for new students at UA); BLAISER/FRONTERA (10-week paid summer mentored research internship, health career preparation, and pre-admissions support for UG); and Pathways Scholars Program/Pre-medicine Admissions Pathway (yearlong post- baccalaureate educational-enrichment, professional-socialization, and life-management programs, with conditional-admission to the UA Colleges of Medicine in Phoenix and Tucson, respectively). Specific outcomes for AZ-HOPE Academies participants include: 1) high school graduation (95% rate), and matriculation into a 2- or 4-year college/university (90%); 2) graduation from a 2-year or 4-year college/university (80%); and 3) matriculation into graduate- level health professions programs (50%), conditional admission for 90% of post-baccalaureate program participants, retention and completion of a graduate-level health professions or allied health professions program (80%). Mental Health First Aid USA® training will be provided to all program participants in order to address this important clinical priority, including education on substance use disorders. AZ-HOPE will partner with the five regional Arizona Area Health Education Centers to support HS health-related educational activities; community colleges (CC) to support AHP students through program completion and transfer to 4-year HP programs; UG partners to support new and transfer students, including NTL and veterans; and post- baccalaureate programs to facilitate conditional admissions. Colleges of Allopathic, Osteopathic, Public Health, and Pharmacy will collaborate with AZ-HOPE to provide support to AZ-HOPE Ambassadors, facilitating their program completion, and exposure to rural and disadvantage clinical communities. Evaluation of AZ-HOPE’s collaborative effort will yield insights into effective avenues for recruitment and retention of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.