GOVERNOR PATERSON ANNOUNCES FIRST AWARDS OF COLLEGE ACCESS CHALLENGE GRANT PROGRAM

Governor David A. Paterson today announced the first awards for the College Access Challenge Grant Program, a two-year, $8.2 million federal grant initiative that focuses on motivating New York’s at-risk youth to successfully prepare for and graduate from college. The Governor directed the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) to administer the College Access Challenge Grant Program.

“New York’s economic future depends on the development of a highly-skilled workforce and the fiscal storms we now weather remind us to invest in the employers and employees of tomorrow,” said Governor Paterson. “The College Access Challenge Grant Program commits our State agencies, public school systems, community-based organization, and financial aid professionals to this cause. The opportunities that these public-private partnerships will afford our students and State are immeasurable, as we serve the students most in need without adding expenses to our already strained State budget.”

The 30 awards announced today were selected through a competitive process and will provide targeted support to schools, agencies and community-based organizations across New York. These grantees will receive a series of sub-grants of less than $50,000 to support specific services for high-need students and their families. These services include:

HESC President James Ross said: “Throughout his career, the Governor has made education a priority for New York State. The College Access Challenge Grant, his call on all New Yorkers to join together in fighting the drop-out epidemic with the ‘New Vision for Student Engagement’ Summit, and the proposed NY Higher Education Loan Program (NYHELPs) for college students demonstrate his commitment. These initiatives recognize that graduation from high school and a higher education are critical for the State’s long-term success and emergence from the fiscal crisis.”

The federal grant awarded to New York by the U.S. Department of Education will run through 2010. HESC will solicit proposals for large sub-grants (up to $200,000) early this spring.

The 30 College Access Challenge Grants recipients are:

Jamestown Community College, Jamestown, NY
New Settlement Apartments, Bronx, NY
Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU), Albany, NY
SUNY Cobleskill, Cobleskill, NY
On Point for College, Inc., Syracuse, NY
Institute for Student Achievement, Lake Success, NY
Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Teachers, Elmsford, NY
College & Community Fellowship, New York, NY
The College Initiative, Bronx, NY
Young Women’s Leadership Network, New York, NY
Goddard Riverside Community Center, New York, NY
St. John’s University, Queens, NY
Research Foundation of the CUNY, New York, NY
Central Park East High School, New York, NY
Learning Leaders, New York, NY
City School District of Albany, Albany, NY
Hispanic Scholarship Fund, New York, NY
High School for Law, Advocacy & Community Justice, New York, NY
New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY
City School District of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY
Harlem RBI, Inc., East Harlem, NY
Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Sunnyside Services, Sunnyside, NY
Brooklyn College Community Partnership / RF CUNY, New York, NY
The Facing History School, New York, NY
Si, Se Puede, Huntington, NY
New York State Financial Aid Administrators Association, Inc (NYSFAAA)
ASPIRA of NY, Inc., New York, NY
SNAP Long Island, Patchogue, NY

For more information about the College Access Challenge Grant Program, please visit:
http://www.hesc.com/content.nsf/SFC/2/College_Access_Challenge_Grant

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