August 19, 2022
Grants Available to Help Institutions Support Students to Complete
A new $5 million grant program designed to support postsecondary student success at institutions with low resources and large enrollments of low-income, minority or at-risk students was announced August 11 by the Department of Education. The Postsecondary Student Success Grants for FY 2022 were announced during the Department’s Raise the B.A.R. (Bold Action and Results) Summit.
According to the Department’s estimate, 5-8 institutions will be awarded grants, which are expected to range between $600,000 and $1 million. Applications are due October 11, 2022.
The grants will “support evidence-based activities to improve postsecondary retention and completion rates,” particularly data driven and evidence-based efforts to improve existing retention and completion efforts and support students on the path to college completion.
The grants are targeted to help students close to completion, whether currently enrolled or those who “stopped-out” because of challenges they faced during the pandemic. The goal is to improve student outcomes, including retention, transfer, credit accumulation, and completion.
To be eligible for the grants, institutions must qualify under Titles III and V of the Higher Education Act, including: Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) Title III-A institutions, community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, all Minority Serving Institutions, and Hispanic Serving Institutions. All categories include private, nonprofit colleges and universities. To see if your institution is eligible for FY 2022, check the department’s Eligibility Matrix 2022.
The grant competition includes one absolute priority, which means only applications that address this priority will be considered; and one invitational priority, which acknowledges a need for assistance, but does not provide additional application points.
Absolute priority:
According to the Department’s estimate, 5-8 institutions will be awarded grants, which are expected to range between $600,000 and $1 million. Applications are due October 11, 2022.
The grants will “support evidence-based activities to improve postsecondary retention and completion rates,” particularly data driven and evidence-based efforts to improve existing retention and completion efforts and support students on the path to college completion.
The grants are targeted to help students close to completion, whether currently enrolled or those who “stopped-out” because of challenges they faced during the pandemic. The goal is to improve student outcomes, including retention, transfer, credit accumulation, and completion.
To be eligible for the grants, institutions must qualify under Titles III and V of the Higher Education Act, including: Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) Title III-A institutions, community colleges, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, all Minority Serving Institutions, and Hispanic Serving Institutions. All categories include private, nonprofit colleges and universities. To see if your institution is eligible for FY 2022, check the department’s Eligibility Matrix 2022.
The grant competition includes one absolute priority, which means only applications that address this priority will be considered; and one invitational priority, which acknowledges a need for assistance, but does not provide additional application points.
Absolute priority:
- Projects should identify one or more of the proposed activities that meet the “promising evidence standard” and include a logic model that demonstrates the relationship between such proposed activities and the relevant outcomes the project is designed to achieve. This concept is further discussed in the grant announcement. The Department is particularly interested in evidence-based approaches included in the What Works Clearinghouse.
- This priority encourages participation by community colleges. While this invitation highlights the need for additional support for community college students to complete, it does not provide additional preference for such applications.
For more information, please contact:
Stephanie Giesecke