Bold Solutions to Re-engage, a partnership between the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, the Heckscher Foundation for Children and the Ichigo Foundation, has awarded more than $2 million in grants to support 14 innovative projects — 11 of them at The City University of New York — aimed at drawing young people back to school, many who paused college or deferred higher education during the pandemic.
The initiative will fund a range of strategies to help New York City high school graduates connect with some form of postsecondary education or career training. After a competitive process that drew 79 proposals, the Bold Solutions initiative awarded 14 grants, six-month planning grants of $40,000 and $250,000 implementation grants for up to 18 months.
The following CUNY projects will receive implementation grants of $250,000:
- Borough of Manhattan Community College: A program to encourage the return of students who are at least halfway through their degree program by providing them with small financial grants, clear and timely information and targeted support.
- College of Staten Island: The college will deploy a re-admissions team, including social workers and community-based nonprofit partners, to support enrollment and re-engagement in postsecondary study.
- Kingsborough Community College: A project in which a dedicated “re-enrollment coach” will review transcripts of students who have put college on hold and create personalized programs to help them return. A free one-credit course focused on career exploration will be offered as an incentive to re-enroll.
- LaGuardia Community College: A program to provide high school graduates who have never enrolled in college with the opportunity to take a free, two-month course at the campus that includes academic support, peer mentoring and related workshops.
- Lehman College: The college will offer robust supports and a specially designed part-time program to re-engage students who have stopped out of college.
- Medgar Evers College: A project to recruit students to commence their journey at Medgar Evers through a semester-long paid internship program before supporting them in the enrollment process.
The following projects will receive six-month planning grants of $40,000 each:
- CUNY School of Professional Studies: A grant to develop a 12-month “gap year” program that combines a year-long paid internship at a nonprofit organization with a free college course and training in youth development issues.
- Hostos Community College: The nonprofit FamilyCook Productions will partner with Hostos to develop a 12-week culinary health education program, followed by a certificate training program.
- Queensborough Community College: A program to re-engage high school graduates who have not enrolled in college by inviting them to visit the campus and either attend free cultural events or participate in a one-day job opportunity.
- Epic Theatre Ensemble: In a project employing creative storytelling techniques to explore why students opt out of college, participants will develop and perform personal narratives at CUNY campuses that convey their future goals and perspectives on education.
- Pursuit Transformation Company: In partnership with a CUNY college to be determined and the nonprofit Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation, Pursuit’s intensive training in software engineering will create a bridge program with New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program.
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