CIC received a second grant
of $3 million from the Walmart Foundation in 2009 to support the second cohort
of award recipients. Twenty CIC member institutions with programs that show the
greatest promise of increasing retention of the largest number of
first-generation students were selected to receive grants of $100,000. Ten
institutions that have established worthy projects with a smaller scope of
impact or are more experimental in nature will receive $50,000 awards. All award
winners have an undergraduate enrollment that includes at least 30 percent
first-generation students among the most recent classes of first-year
students.
“The 20 colleges and universities selected for the initial
awards in 2008 have done a great job in rising to the challenges of retaining
and graduating first-generation students,” said Walmart Foundation president
Margaret McKenna. “The Walmart Foundation is proud to provide the opportunity
for an additional 30 institutions to participate in the program and contribute
to the growing body of knowledge on how best to support these
students.”
In announcing the award winners, CIC President Richard Ekman
said, “We are delighted by the recognition that this second grant from the
Walmart Foundation gives to the role played by private colleges in educating
first-generation students. Much attention has been focused recently on higher
education as a key to making the United States workforce stronger and the
country more competitive in the 21st century world economy. As the federal
government and philanthropic leaders call for increased degree completion in
higher education, small and mid-sized private institutions are an underutilized
resource in this effort. Private colleges also enroll comparable or higher
percentages of lower-income and first-generation students to public institutions
and they require far less subsidy by state governments to succeed in meeting
these national goals. Most importantly, small and mid-sized private institutions
have moved beyond a focus on access to a record of unequalled success in
retaining and graduating low-income and first-generation
students.”
Citing data from the American Association of Community
Colleges, Ekman noted that more than six million students a year enroll for
credit at the nation’s community colleges. However, only 26 percent actually
transfer to a four-year college. In addition, according to the National
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the six-year graduation
rate of first-generation students at public four-year institutions is only 44
percent compared with 61 percent at private colleges and universities. “In
short, if we are to achieve the ambitious national goal of increased numbers of
college graduates, the lessons learned from the experiences of private colleges
will need to be heeded by national policymakers and others,” Ekman
stressed.
The Walmart College Success Awards program will include a
conference in 2011, online networking opportunities, and a final publication on
best practices from both cohorts to be disseminated at the end of the grant
period in 2013.
The 20 $100,000 award winners are:
Alma
College, MI;
Alverno
College, WI;
Berea College, KY;
Catawba College, NC;
Clark
Atlanta University, GA;
College of Notre Dame of
Maryland;
DePaul University, IL;
Elizabethtown College, PA;
Franklin College, IN;
Guilford College, NC;
Lynchburg College, VA;
Mars Hill College, NC;
Mercyhurst College, PA;
Mills College, CA;
Notre Dame de Namur University, CA;
Rosemont
College, PA;
Stetson
University, FL;
Stevenson University, MD;
Thomas College, ME; and
University of St.
Francis, IL.
The ten $50,000 award winners
are:
Cardinal Stritch University, WI;
Chaminade University of Honolulu, HI;
Defiance College, OH;
Emmanuel College, MA;
Eureka College, IL;
Heritage University, WA;
McKendree University, IL;
Saint Augustine’s College, NC;
Wabash College,
IN; and
Woodbury University,
CA.
The programs offered at these 30 institutions represent the wide
range of approaches to working with first-generation students. Some institutions
focus on the unique needs of a particular subset of first-generation students,
such as Hispanic students, commuter students, transfer students from community
colleges, or students pursuing a teaching career. A number of the award
recipients offer transitional summer programs for incoming students that help
prepare them for college-level work and life away from home. Others provide
services such as mentoring, tutoring, career development, and providing
scholarships and stipends to help ensure success for first-generation
students.
For more information about the Walmart College Success Awards
and the programs of the 30 winners, visit the CIC website at
www.cic.edu/Programs-and-Services/Progams/Pages/Walmart-CSA.aspx.