Struggling with quadratic equations and square roots is all too familiar for Gregory Mauno, communications major. But with two new grants totalling more than $4.34 million, help is on the way.
A five-year federal Title V grant worth $3.24 million will help students in pursuit of their associate’s degrees and transferring by strengthening core courses such as reading, writing and mathematics, according to the “EC Matters” Newsletter said.
Students working toward careers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields will also benefit from a TRIO Students Support Services STEM grant worth $1.1 million that will build on the strategies of the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) Program.
TRIO is a series of federal outreach programs that provides services to disadvantaged students.
“The Title V grant is from the department of education,” Jeanie Nishime, vice president of student and community advancement, said. “The Title V is for Hispanic serving institutions. The purpose of our grant is to increase our graduation rate for Hispanic students, but all students will benefit in the process.”
The college is one of 99 institutions nationwide and one of 30 institutions in California to receive the grant.
As the grant is geared toward all students who are struggling to graduate and transfer, the college will provide services such as tutoring and summer academies.
“It has three components,” Nishime said. “To help students do a better job with the assessment tests, to provide help for students who are one level below their English and math requirements for graduation and to hire two new evaluators to do an early evaluation for students who have 45 or more units to see if they are close to getting an associate’s degree.”
Contacting students and making them come in for counseling to let them know that they are close to getting a degree if they complete certain tasks is another way the Title V grant may increase transfer and completion rates, Nishime said.
According to the Newsletter, the STEM grant will help prepare students to enter future workforce industries like aerospace and manufacturing.
As the college is trying to increase the graduation rates, some students said they appreciate the efforts.
“I love it because I have so much trouble in English,” Kaitlyn Morales, music major, said. “That’s great that they’re going to have summer academies to help the students get through the hard subjects.”
Some students are skeptical about the grant.
“We’ll see if it works,” Tomas Kim, undeclared major, said. “The implementation of all the programs are the most important.”