St. Paul, Minnesota – State Representative John Ward (DFL – Baxter) is encouraging area colleges and community-based non-profits to apply for individual grants up to $300,000 in College Success Grants from Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation.
College students who develop a connection with their peers, faculty, and staff are more likely to stay in college until they graduate. Great Lakes' College Success grants are intended to support programs that connect students of similar backgrounds who are attending two-year, four-year, or technical colleges-and are all working toward the common goal of college completion. These grants will help students develop those connections through specialized services such as mentoring, proactive advising, development of learning communities, and academic tutoring.
“If they work hard, every Minnesota student should have the opportunity to go to college, further their education, and get closer to their goals and the American Dream, regardless of their family income,” said Rep. Ward. “I encourage Central Lakes College and other area non-profits to take advantage of their grants to help students, and I thank Great Lakes for making these available. Increasing opportunity for our young people will help our communities and our economy in the future.”
Colleges and community-based organizations located in Iowa, Minnesota, or Wisconsin are eligible to apply for individual grants of up to $300,000 each for the 2013-2014 academic year. Applications can be found at mygreatlakes.org/community<https://www.mygreatlakes.org/web/community/content/community/grants/collegeSuccess.html> and are due March 14, 2013.
To be considered for funding, programs must be designed to serve undergraduate students from traditionally underserved backgrounds, provide ongoing services designed to increase the retention and persistence rates for a defined group of students, provide retention and persistence rates for a baseline group consisting of similarly situated students, track semester-to-semester enrollment (retention rates) and year-to-year enrollment (persistence rates) of the cohort of students, and collaborate with external and/or internal partners.
For more information on Great Lakes' College Success grant opportunity and other Community Investments initiatives, visit mygreatlakes.org/community or contact Amy Kerwin at akerwin@glhec.org or 608-246-1785.