FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                           October 15, 2008

Contact:        Candace Oehler, Communications Manager - (206) 768-6873

College Receives Major Federal Grant

$2.4 million targets API student needs.

(Seattle, WA) A two-year, $2.4 million U.S. Department of Education grant awarded to South Seattle Community College will help improve the success of low-income and underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) students.   The college, one of only six, two- and four-year institutions to receive this grant, has the distinction of being a federally-designated Asian American/Native American/Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI), which requires target population enrollment of 10 percent or above. Second-year grant funding is dependent on successful completion of first-year objectives, which include development of sustainable and reproducible strategies.

API students make up the majority of the college’s students of color and, according to Vice President of Student Services Mark Mitsui, the grant will enable the college to not only increase their access to higher education, but chances of success.  Funds will be used to address four major strategic categories:

1. Improve the API freshman experience through culturally relevant, family-connected orientations, and creation of clustered learning communities.
2. Increase transition from ESL/ELL classes to college courses.
3. Improve retention rates, including creation of a virtual API resource center to collect best practices from other institutions.
4. Improve transfer and graduation rates, including use of peer support techniques and improved pathways to South’s four-year partner institutions.

“Ultimately, the best practices generated from this grant will provide models to support retention, transfer, and graduation rates of all students,” said Mitsui. “As a matter of fact, any South student will be able to access the services, courses and initiatives offered through the grant.”

South joins City College of San Francisco; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Hawaii at Hilo; Foothill-DeAnza Community College; and Guam Community College as the first recipients of this inaugural grant.

About South Seattle Community College

South Seattle Community College serves a multicultural population of 15,000 students each year from an 87-acre, wooded campus in West Seattle, and satellite campuses in the Georgetown and Beacon Hill communities.  Its programs include college transfer, professional/technical careers, distance learning, basic and transitional studies, and lifelong learning.  The college also offers a four-year Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) degree in Hospitality Management. South is one of the Seattle Community Colleges.