24 September 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2010
CONTACT: Brandy Johnson, Director
Michigan College Access Network
517-316-1713
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LANSING –The Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) today announced that 14 communities will collectively receive more than $350,000 to support student access and success in college. These grant opportunities are designed to help Michigan communities establish local college access networks. These networks will coordinate programs, services, and resources that lower the barriers preventing students, particularly low-income and first-generation students, from pursuing postsecondary educational opportunities. In each community, leaders in education, the nonprofit sector, business, government, and philanthropy will work together to design a local strategy to foster a college-going culture and dramatically increase the college participation and completion rates.
Grant recipients and the communities they serve include:
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Albion Community Foundation Albion
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Baldwin Community Schools Baldwin
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Barry Community Foundation Barry County
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Capital Region Community Foundation Lansing
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Finlandia University Baraga, Houghton, and Keweenaw Counties
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Grand Haven Area Community Foundation Grand Haven, Ferrysburg, and Spring Lake
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Grand Rapids Community Foundation Kent County
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Ionia County Intermediate School District Ionia and Montcalm Counties
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Les Cheneaux Community Foundation Chippewa, Luce, and Mackinac Counties
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Northwest Detroit Neighborhood Development Brightmoor Neighborhood, Detroit
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POH Riley Foundation Pontiac
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Sistahs Reachin Out (SRO) Highland Park
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Sturgis Public Schools Sturgis
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W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research Kalamazoo County
Funding from The Kresge Foundation and a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education made this round of MCAN Grants possible. The next round of grants will be awarded in March 2011.
“In order to sustain a vibrant economy in Michigan, our communities must be built on the foundation of a highly-educated population,” Brandy Johnson, Director of MCAN, said. “A high school diploma simply isn’t enough to compete in the 21st century economy. Every Michigander needs to enter the labor market with a college degree or valuable credential in hand. Period.”
The Michigan College Access Network (MCAN) was established in 2009 in collaboration with the State of Michigan and a working group of key stakeholders representing K-12, higher education, youthserving nonprofit organizations, state government, philanthropy, and business.
MCAN exists to dramatically increase Michigan’s college participation and completion rates, particularly among low-income and first-generation college students. The goal of the organization is to increase the proportion of Michigan residents with college degrees and valuable credentials to 60 percent by the year 2025. Currently, Michigan’s postsecondary educational attainment rate hovers around 35.8%. MCAN leads the state’s college access movement by employing a number of strategies, including coordination, advocacy, and professional development. It also supports community-based college access initiatives through hands-on technical assistance and funding opportunities. Finally, it works to strengthen like-minded and mission-aligned partner initiatives such as Michigan Campus Compact, Michigan College Advising Corps, Promise Zones, The Imagine Fund, and Achieving the Dream.
Local college access networks, such as those awarded grant funding, provide mentoring, tutoring, college entrance test preparation, career guidance, college admissions and financial aid advising, campus visits, scholarships, and other college access and success services.
Eight of the grant recipients were awarded $8,000 planning grants. These organizations will spend the next 6-12 months convening teams of education and community leaders to determine each community’s college access needs. They will then design a plan to build a college-going culture and deliver a comprehensive set of college access services. Six of the grant recipients, serving Baldwin, Brightmoor Neighborhood (Detroit), Ionia/Montcalm Counties, Kent County, Pontiac, and Sturgis, will receive $50,000 start-up grants to begin implementing their local networks. All grant recipients must also design strategies to integrate two statewide initiatives – The Michigan College Access Portal (MichiganCAP) and KnowHow2GOMichigan – into their community networks.
Earlier this month, MichiganCAP, a Web-based one-stop-shop to allow students to plan, apply, and pay for college, went live at www.michigancap.org. Students and their families, counselors, and mentors are encouraged to log on to the site to explore careers and create a postsecondary education plan.
KnowHow2GOMichigan is a public-awareness campaign designed to encourage and prepare low income students and their families to take the necessary steps toward college. The campaign’s multimedia public service announcements urge young people to find someone who can help them get to college and direct students and their mentors to an interactive Website (www.KnowHow2GOMichigan.org) with additional resources.
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 MCAN_Press_Release_September_2010.pdf | [ ] |