Well before the pandemic struck, Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) was in search of something more, something bigger, to tell its story. The Michigan college found its solution in an expanded advertising program with regional sports teams. Although many sports remain on pause for now, the program will pick back up once normal activities resume. […]
Advocacy and Funding Articles
Finding opportunities amid crises — even COVID-19
Grants from the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program not only help faculty test their ideas for innovative STEM technician programs, but they are also a funding source that helps community colleges become “risk-tolerant.” Kevin Cooper, principal investigator of Project Vision, made the case that risk tolerance can help community colleges find opportunities […]
Investing in the long term
Uplifting underserved populations is a compelling donor narrative, an effort buoyed in recent decades by endowments that fund scholarship opportunities and exciting new programming. “We have a great story to tell about giving,” says Mark Erickson, president of Pennsylvania’s Northampton Community College (NCC), which increased its endowment from $51.9 million in 2018 to $65 million […]
Expanding tuition-free programs
Though many community colleges are facing potential funding losses – especially if state budgets are slashed – they are still pushing hard to help people affected by the pandemic. Many are offering scholarships and other financial assistance to get people enrolled and on track for college and workforce success. Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) in Ohio […]
Report roundup
Here are three reports you should know about this month. Colleges need to do more for students who are parents, Generation Hope says in a new report. According to a survey conducted by the community-based nonprofit focused on college completion and early childhood success, one in five undergraduate students – and one in four (26 […]
A behind-the-signs story
The new year brought new Metropolitan Community College (MCC) signs to highways and interstates around Kansas City. Ho-hum. Right? Actually, it was an undertaking so complicated, it required a new state law to make it happen. The old signs — in some cases at least 25 years old — didn’t even use the correct names […]
Inside the Promise Zone
Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) embraces the life-changing role it will play educating students through the Grand Rapids Promise Zone, and is proud to be a partner in these efforts to strengthen the region for generations to come, GRCC President Bill Pink said. Pink spoke at a Jan. 13 event with Mayor Rosalynn Bliss; Teresa […]
TAACCCT as a model for future workforce efforts
During a House subcommittee hearing Dec. 18 on how Congress can address worker displacement by expanding access to lifelong learning, a former top-level U.S. Labor Department official noted that the TAACCCT program has provided a structure that can help workers and employers. Seth Harris, who served as U.S. deputy labor secretary and its chief operating […]
HPOG creates a path out of poverty
Ana Karen Lopez – the oldest of seven children in a family that immigrated from Mexico to Texas – dreamed of becoming a nurse but couldn’t afford a college education without extensive financial assistance. Thanks to a federal HPOG grant, Lopez was able to quit her dead-end receptionist job and enroll full-time in a licensed […]
Report roundup
Here are three reports you should know about this month. State disinvestment in public higher education has led to fewer affordable college opportunities, particularly for low-income and underrepresented students, say the authors of a report from The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS). The report proposes a framework for a new federal-state partnership that […]