All Five ACD Campuses Awarded Grants to Boost Community College Adult Enrollment

By Press release submission

Dec 13, 2021

Alamo Colleges District recently issued the following announcement.

Lumina Foundation has funded grants to 20 community colleges in eight states, including all five Alamo Colleges District colleges, with efforts to increase adult student enrollment.

The Prioritizing Adult Community College Enrollment initiative identifies and supports promising strategies for increasing adult participation—particularly among Black, Hispanic and Latino, and Native American students—in quality credit-bearing and non-credit programs.

"Helping more adults earn credentials of value starts with having labor-market-aligned programs that adults can enroll in and succeed," said Chauncy Lennon, Lumina's vice president for learning and work. "The colleges receiving grants are prioritizing adults by strategically supporting their participation at scale."

A partnership effort of Achieving the Dream, Ideas 42, rpkGroup, Equal Measure, and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, will support the community colleges. The group includes five rural, six suburban, and nine urban colleges. Among these are eight Hispanic-serving institutions, one historically Black college, one Asian American and Native American-Pacific Islander-serving institution, and one institution designed solely to serve incarcerated students.

Each ACD college will receive a flexible grant of up to $75,000, along with technical assistance in behavioral design and planning for sustainable enrollment efforts. As coordinating partner, Achieving the Dream will facilitate peer learning and the development of a digital toolkit to share lessons with colleges nationally.

"The grant comes at a time of significant importance for community colleges as we work to reduce barriers for adult students," said Monica Parrish Trent, Achieving the Dream's vice president for network engagement. "We are excited to collaborate with Lumina and national partners to support these 20 colleges in boosting enrollments and credential attainment by holistically serving adults, particularly adult learners of color, and disseminating learnings into the field."

Each college will use a broad range of strategies such as boosting online enrollments, increasing community-based recruitment and enrollment, expanding adult program sites and approaches, and putting in place adult-focused marketing and outreach plans.

Below is the full list of community colleges that will receive grants:

The Alamo Colleges District, Texas

Alamo Colleges District - Palo Alto College

Alamo Colleges District - San Antonio College

Alamo Colleges District - St. Philip's College

Alamo Colleges District - Northeast Lakeview College

Alamo Colleges District - Northwest Vista College

Austin Community College, Texas

Cape Fear Community College, North Carolina

Finger Lakes Community College, New York

Florida SouthWestern State College

Ingram State Technical College, Alabama