PCC receives five-year, $3 million U.S. Dept. of Education grant

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Pasadena City College a five-year, $3 million grant.

PCC’s project, Putting Career First and Expanding the Network of Care in PCC’s Pathway to Completion for Hispanic Students, has three goals:

1. Academic Programs: Develop a multi-faceted approach to career exploration that offers robust internship opportunities contextualized for different careers with content embedded into the curriculum;
2. Institutional Management: Build and foster a multi-modal “Network of Care,” a student support model rooted in the fundamental belief that student support and advising is a shared responsibility provided at the individual and group levels; and
3. Fiscal Stability: Increase student outcomes and close equity gaps to ensure alignment with state-mandated performance-based funding focused on student equity, student success, and workforce outcomes.

“It’s no secret that our students are facing an unprecedented set of challenges right now,” said Erika Endrijonas, superintendent/president of Pasadena City College. “Colleges and universities of all sizes need to be evolving to make sure our students have the support they need to succeed. This important grant will make it possible for us to put this work into practice, and I’m grateful for everyone who has made it a reality.”

These goals represent PCC’s essential next steps to embracing its identity as an Hispanic-serving institution by

• Preparing Latina/o/x students for PCC’s competitive regional labor market by updating curriculum that aligns with labor market needs, can be used in a variety of courses, and addresses “killer course” bottlenecks that prevent progression of high demand career paths;
• Supporting Latina/o/x students with support services including the use of Success Centers and Success Teams that create community, provide an array of resources, and provide the tools and understanding needed to take control of their financial lives; and
• Building on PCC’s Career Community approach to empower Latina/o/x students to make meaningful connections between career goals and academic programs.

The project will also develop students’ personal financial literacy and support their skill development with a robust internship program in partnership with equity-minded local employers.

The grant begins October 1, 2020 and ends September 30, 2024.

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