Round Rock, TX — TG recently awarded its fiscal year 2016 grants, totaling $1.1 million, to several higher education-focused organizations. For the eight awards determined through the 2016 competitive grant process, TG emphasized collaboration between nonprofit organizations and community colleges to strengthen the Guided Pathways approach being implemented on many campuses across Texas. TG also approved an additional award focusing on developing educational and workforce opportunities in the El Paso region.
These grants reflect TG’s philanthropic goal to increase post-secondary attainment and affordability by supporting ideas and strategies that impact student decision-making and prudent student debt.
“TG applauds the efforts that Texas higher education institutions are undertaking to streamline pathways to and through college,” said Kristin Boyer, TG director of philanthropy. “We understand that institutions, nonprofits, and school districts share the same students, and we’re confident that we can amplify the impact if we also share the same goals and strategies to help them navigate the pathways to completion.”
The following organizations were awarded grant funding:
Alamo Colleges, San Antonio, Texas — $97,486 to support collaboration with the San Antonio Education Partnership to help increase the graduation rate of scholarship recipients who attend one of the Alamo Colleges.
Amarillo College, Amarillo, Texas — $50,000 to create and expand clear and accelerated pathways for students interested in pursuing an education in the technical trade areas, specifically those that lead to a Level I Certificate.
Citizens for Educational Excellence, Corpus Christi, Texas — $126,350 to improve postsecondary and job attainment by identifying high-skill, high-demand positions and working to develop structured, guided education and career pathways that students can begin as early as high school.
College Forward, Austin, Texas — $100,000 to integrate student mentoring strategies into the Guided Pathways redesign efforts at Paris Junior College and to expand knowledge and adoption of effective practices by compiling lessons learned and implementation strategies into a white paper for public release.
Communities Foundation of Texas/Educate Texas, Dallas, Texas — $200,000 to help El Paso community stakeholders establish and sustain a Collective Impact framework and define a set of key indicators, strategies, and collaborative efforts that will improve student outcomes for the region.
Foundation Communities, Austin, Texas — $150,000 to support a collaboration with Austin Community College to develop a model for serving low-income adult students with wrap-around services and then a clear pathway into and through the college, with built-in academic advising, student tracking, and follow-up services.
Prosper Waco, Waco, Texas — $149,700 to expand information, preparation, and opportunities available through the collaborative efforts of Waco ISD, La Vega ISD, TSTC-Waco, and McLennan Community College that lead to viable college and career pathways within the region.
Texas Community College Education Initiative/Texas Association of Community Colleges, Austin, Texas — $148,264 to support the Texas Pathways Project, specifically to assess the readiness of community colleges to implement cross-sector Guided Pathways at scale, produce rigorous curriculum for a series of institutes, conduct the first two of the series of six Pathways Institutes, and draft a statewide research agenda to inform the policy and practice needs of the work.
P16+ Council of Greater Bexar County, San Antonio, Texas — $122,000 to support the Diplomás Project, coordinating the efforts of seven local institutions of higher education to increase the number of degrees awarded to Latino students by four percent annually and develop and carry out a unified policy agenda advocating for the implementation of local, state, and national policies that support Latino college attainment.
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TG is a nonprofit corporation that promotes educational success to help millions of students and families realize their college and career dreams. TG provides critical support to schools, students, and borrowers at every stage of the federal student aid process — from providing information on how to pay for a higher education including financial aid options, to facilitating successful loan repayment after graduation.