LMC Awarded $3 Million Federal Grant

Direct from Congressman George Miller’s office
Released September 28, 2010

Los Medanos College awarded federal grant worth $3 million
Grant will help expand educational opportunities for Hispanic students

WASHINGTON, DC – Federal education funds were awarded today to Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, CA to help develop a program that will encourage minority students to transfer to 4-year institutions, Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) announced today.

The funds were awarded as part of the Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Grant program. An initial award of $601,789 has been announced for 2010-2011 and it is anticipated that the grant will be funded for a total of 5 years, for a total of approximately $3 million.

“My congratulations go to Los Medanos College on earning this grant to encourage more students to attend four-year institutions,” said Miller, who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee. Miller has worked for many years to elevate the Hispanic-Serving Institutions program through the reauthorization of the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 and by providing historic mandatory funding for the program in the College Cost Reduction and Access Act and in the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act . Added Miller, “We know that students face any number of obstacles when trying to meet their college goals, and I look forward to seeing a successful program at Los Medanos to help them address this challenge.”

“Los Medanos College is ecstatic about the new opportunities that this HSI grant will bring to our students and to East County,” said Los Medanos President Peter Garcia. “Our faculty and staff will be creating new approaches to improve transfer rates for Latino and first generation students as a result of this five year, $3 million grant. We are so appreciative of Chairman Miller's support of this critical investment in our college and students.”

Using the grant funds, Los Medanos will support ÉXITO, a comprehensive initiative which will help bridge the transfer gap and create systemic change at Los Medanos College by making transfer a high institutional priority, ultimately increasing the number of Hispanic and other low-income students who transfer to four-year institutions.

Los Medanos College sees a large transfer gap between the percent of students who intend to transfer to a four-year institution and those who are successful in doing so. Overall, 56 percent of all students and 59 percent of Hispanic students at Los Medanos intend to transfer. However, only 3.2 percent of all students and only 2.9 percent of Hispanic students successfully transfer.

The purpose of the Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program is to expand educational opportunities for, and improve the academic attainment of, Hispanic students; and expand and enhance the academic offering , program quality, and institutional stability of colleges and universities that are educating the majority of Hispanic college students and helping large numbers of Hispanic students and other low-income individuals complete postsecondary degrees.