CUNY Newswire

August 25, 2010 | Lehman College

BRONX, N.Y. — Lehman College has been awarded two new Federal grants, totaling $2.5 million over five years, to help 300 students make timely progress toward graduation, stay in college, and earn their bachelor’s degrees. A total of 160 students will be served through the newly funded “Pathways to Success” program, and 140 students will participate in “Careers in Teaching,” a new program designed to assist them in succeeding in college and also in earning their teaching credentials for early childhood, elementary, middle, or high school education.

The funds are provided through the U.S. Department of Education’s TRIO Programs, which aim to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds, most of whom are the first in their families to complete a baccalaureate degree. One grant of $1.25 million (Pathways to Success) will provide assistance and support to SEEK students to earn their degree within six years; another grant of $1.25 million (Careers in Teaching) will help aspiring teachers earn their degree within six years, as well as their teaching credentials.

In addition to supplemental instruction during the summer and over winter intersession, the students will work and study together in small groups, receiving intensified academic tutoring and advising, career counseling, preparation for the CUNY Proficiency exams, and regular, ongoing assessments of their progress. They also will attend workshops in Library literacy and other areas and take part in cultural and campus activities, in addition to off-campus retreats, to build their sense of community and connection to college.

“These funds are a win-win situation for both our students and community,” said Dr. Anne Rothstein, founding director of Lehman’s Center for School/College Collaboratives, who applied for the grants. “The students will be directed and supported on a path toward not only their bachelor’s degree but also to the graduate degrees required of today’s teachers and necessary for many careers and professions. The city and region will benefit by an increase in the number of both college-educated citizens and well-prepared educators, ready to inspire and direct younger students along the same path.”

The two grants complement the Center’s current Talent Search and Upward Bound programs and complete a TRIO pipeline to college being administered by the Center.

Talent Search, funded through a five-year grant totaling $1.1 million, serves 600 students each year from four Bronx high schools: Astor Collegiate Academy at Columbus, Bronx Health Sciences High School at Truman, School for Community Research and Learning at Stevenson, and the School for Teaching and the Professions at Walton. Upward Bound, funded through a five-year grant totaling $1.25 million, provides fifty students at the School for Teaching and the Professions with intensive college preparation. Together, these four programs represent a ninth grade through college graduation pipeline, supporting and shepherding students along the often-difficult road to the baccalaureate degree.

Media Contact: Marge Rice / 718-960-4992